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Drone comb frame filled too quickly?

2K views 4 replies 3 participants last post by  BoiseBeekeeper 
#1 ·
Hi,
New-bee question again. Installed drone foundation frame 2 weeks ago. Upon inspection last week, bees seemed to be drawing it faster than any frame of foundation since first days of installing the package. Today's inspection revealed one entire side of frame was full and capped, the outer side of frame almost completely drawn.

I am a little worried that this is awfully fast for a drone frame to be filled by a laying queen alone. She's unmarked, and I haven't seen her for almost a month.

There are still capped worker cells, and some uncapped, but nothing like a month ago. No sign of multiple eggs in uncapped cells. Is this rate of drone laying normal?

Should I wait until both sides are capped before pulling? I must have a bee space issue as well. There are drone cells in bridge/burr comb between bottom bars of top deep and top bars of lower one.
 
#2 ·
They probably have been desperately wanting to make drones since they where installed but had nowhere to put them. Now that they have a spot they are going at it with enthusiasm.

As to the rate, it actually sounds slow to me. I recently moved a frame filled with syrup up to try to lure the bees into a second medium and replaced it with an empty frame from the top. They had it completely drawn out and laid with eggs in four days. Two weeks is enough time for them to fill a whole box if they have a mind too.
 
#4 ·
Okay then. As I inspect every seven or eight days, given weather, next inspection will be 21 days since I installed the frame, something short of that for actual laying of drones.

Additionally, other threads reference a great deal of disruption to the "morale" of the hive while the drone frame is removed. Thoughts?
 
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