how far along in ct

[Captainfester]

me and my buddies have three hives. 1 started from a package in april - running all mediums
and 2 started from nucs at the end of may - 5 frame deeps


how far along should the bees be as far as drawing comb. we are using foundation. in three weeks we have 3 - 4 frames on each deep drawn.

im curious what the "normal" is. we dont feed at all. thanks for the input.

[stripstrike]

I started fifty packages in 8 frame medium equipment the first weekend of May. Two absconded or drifted and a few are superceding, but the majority are well into their second box with a good number into their third. I add boxes when 6 frames are fully drawn. I'd say I'm about 50/50 with wax or plastic foundation in these hives, but that hasn't seemed to matter. I stop feeding once they hit box three, but might start up again as we hit the dearth just to get them prepared for fall.

[adam@azapiaries]

Why have you not been feeding? Until yesterday there was no real flow for three weeks in most of CT. That equals slow buildup. Three frames in three weeks is slow.

[stripstrike]

I was just down at the hives at home and they all have that wonderful "hum" as they dry out nectar. Four hives makes a pretty good roar when they're doing that, but it's the smell that I like the most!