Honey Bound 5 frame nuc?

I picked up a nuc back in early October which took about a month to get up and running. After reducing the entrance and feeding for 2-3 weeks, I removed the feeder. Since then they haven't drawn out any more of the additional 3 frames in the 8 frame deep. After going through for the first time in about a month Sunday I noticed more nectar and capped honey than brood. It seems as if they forced the queen to swarm, as yesterday there was a small swarm about softball size in the garden. I checked out the nuc again today and still full of nectar.

Not sure if the swarm came from this nuc as I didn't see any queen/ swarm cells. But there could have been one that I missed. Any way to get these bees to draw out more comb and get better established?

BYP: 5 frames full for an October Nuc seems about right down here for the little bit we have blooming right now. My weakest hive was a September swarm, and as of Friday they had filled 7.5 frames in a 10 frame box. Is this your only colony? You can do some feeding to encourage them to draw more comb, but beware of robbing, especially if you have additional colonies.

Did you catch the swarm??? :applause:

No this is not the only hive I have. Picked up my first nuc in August which hadn't stalled at all in drawing out frames and made it to two full 10 frame deeps by October. I also did a removal last week, which was pretty easy since the hive was in a duck nesting box by Okeechobee. It's sitting in the nest box waiting to be cut out. The only reason why I suspect the weak nuc is because of all the honey and nectar intertwined with the brood. Bees are still bringing in pollen like crazy, but the brood chamber looks to be full.

Wondering if I should checkerboard or something...?

I attempted to catch the swarm, but not sure if they are going to settle and set up shop... that news is still forming.

Thanks for the reply!

BYP: Hopefully some of the more experienced beeks will respond here, but I was under the impression checkerboarding would be put to use when a hive is strong/overcrowded (??). JMO, the bees seem to be on track, and I'd be concerned to put too much stress on them at this time of year. In Aug/Sept/Oct the brazillian pepper is a huge nectar source, which could be why the other colonies 'boomed' so quickly. Based on what the bees have available presently, I think I would continue to let the bees dictate their pace of building. Again, JMO, as I am still pretty new to bees myself. Hope you get additional feedback!

need to checker board empty frames"undrawn" between the drawn ones start in the brood nest area..

AHB are known to stay small and swarm,often
You may have a fair amount of genetics it hat hive
The thing that doesn't fit is,usually more brood than honey

If the hive has cast a swarm there would likely be capped queen cells in the hive, If there are open queen cells it is possible that a second virgin queen could leave with a small swarm. This is not the time for swarms but FL is quite warm and forage is available so who knows. I have a hive at present where the queen is awol and I have 2 capped queen cells in the hive I do not know if a queen in my area has any chance of mating in February, I could have a small swarm if one queen does not manage to kill the other. So it looks like problems come spring.
Johno