Instead of honey production, foundation production

[chiggerbait]

If you wanted your bees to build as much comb as possible, either with or without foundation, how would you manage the hive? Disregarding any honey production.

Thanks
Chigger

[mike haney]

just keep trading out the frames

[alpha6]

And you need to keep feed on them. They have to have a good flow on to produce wax so if none is going you need to feed. Keep their populations up so pulling frames of brood and adding foundation would keep them hopping. This means you could make lots of splits...but if you are looking for comb I would let these hatch out and do packages. That way you keep your comb.

[Duboisi]

My guess is that you'll get more wax from foundationless and opening the brood-nest as described at Michael Bush's site.

And the package idea sounds like a really good one. Unless you do some splitting and adding more hives that is. two hives will make more than one etc. and TBH's can be made pretty cheap.

[chiggerbait]

Maybe my initial question was too vague, would you top super, bottom super or does it matter?
Feeding, how much or how many feeders available that the hive thinks there is a flow. What type feeder would be needed to do this? I'm referring to inhive feeder.
Thanks
Chigger

[dave28210]

I've got two hives, on one I left an extra super on over the winter (no frames) so that I would have space to feed pollen patties (the other hive had plenty of pollen for some reason, even though the first one didn't)

To make a long story short, I left the empty super on the hive a bit late, and when I went this early spring to take it off, I didn't have the heart to cut out the nice little combs they were making on the bottom of my hive top feeder. Really, being a newer beek, I wanted to see what "wild/unguided comb" would look like.

Even though the hive with the empty super has had a week head start on my hive with a shallow super w/ foundation, they are totally outpacing the hive with frames in the supers; so much that they already need another super for fear they'll swarm!!

So I don't know what rhyme or reason to attribute this to, but the girls that had the empty space built and filled comb from scratch a lot faster than the other hive is taking to drawing out frames. Go figure. Same bees, same source, same age queens, same brood production give or take. Though I did get some brood in that empty super above two deeps.

Seems like they know how to run a hive better than I do

Oddly enough, even though the hive is two deeps with full frames, they elected to go at a 45 degree angle in the empty super. Sure is pretty and smells amazing.

[concrete-bees]

Chigger---

im needing more super frames drawn out this year so what im doing is starting 3 packages on 6 5/8 supers - and just rotate the frames out as they fill them - and just keep feeding them -

doing this im hoping to have all my supers with drawn frames for next year

[chiggerbait]

I have thought about shaking the bees into a new box with maybe 1 frame of brood and everything else above an excluder or giving everything else to another hive. Any thoughts on that?
Chigger

[concrete-bees]

im not sure what you are asking but it sounds like you are wanting to make a split - ??

if thats the case take 1-2 frames of brood and about 2 pounds of bees and start a nuc. - and either buy a gueen or let the bees raise their own

but to get wax drawn out all you have to do is feed and feed - but remember one strong hive of 40,000 bees is More productive-( in wax and honey) then 2 hives of 20,000 bees

so if you are wanting to just get drawn comb take the frames of capped brood and put those above the queen exculder and let them hatch out - that way the queen will not replace them empties with eggs - and just keep doing this but it takes a lot of time to move frames around every 4-5 days but it will get the job done - also in doing this you will need a place to store these frames so that mice and wax moths dont eat your profit!!!!

best of luck

[chiggerbait]

I'm not wanting to make splits or packages. I want to produce as much new comb as possible. And not cut comb.
Chigger

[Broke-T]

Use deep boxes for honey super 1st year. Extract it and then use for brood after that. I know, there heavy but it works.

Johnny