open brood nest

[dan k 1]

Hello Gang, This is a follow up to a question (what is an open brood nest?) that was answered by Mr. Bush in great detail a few months ago. Now that the bees are in their hives (2 weeks tomorrow) and building comb (7 bars in hive # 1 and on 9 bars in hive # 2). I'm not sure If the queens are laying as I haven't done a full inspection yet.
My question is. What signs can I look for that will tell me when to add empty bars to the brood nest?

Here are a couple of pics I wanted to share
http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/danbeesk1/combday9.jpg
http://i583.photobucket.com/albums/ss279/danbeesk1/HPIM0876.jpg

Thanks
Dan

[gmcharlie]

personaly, I put on all the bars and let them decide. not a good reason to limit their space on a TBH.

[LenInNorCal]

Dan, the photo of your wooden hive is nice but does not reveal anything regarding your concern. But it IS a nice TBH and I especially like the roof.
The other photo of your comb is too fuzzy for these old eyes to determine, so now comes the hard part: trust. Queens are nothing but egg laying machines and your guys are building comb. By your photos it does not look like the warmest time of the year which means you have to practice the hardest thing in beekeeping, patience. So in a few days, when it warms up, inspect fully your hive. The brood chamber bar will have both CAPPED brood (kind of yellowy-orange) and OPEN BROOD (look inside and it looks wet, and with good vision you may see a larvae at the bottom) but don't look too long as you don't want to "freeze" them since their temps should remain at 94*. You need not wait until it's that temperature to inspect so be quick but gentle. If you see brood with domes on it then you will have found the drone brood and you will then be sure. Be patient and check again in a few days.

[Michael Bush]

As long as the bees continue to expand the brood nest I leave them alone. If they start to contract the brood nest, I put in an empty bar.