[Snigglet]

Ooops I titled this thread wrong...not sure how I can change it but my bees ARE NOT building new comb & I feel like they should be

I've got a hive that is about 1 month old - I purchased a nuc & converted the bars to fit into my top bar. I had no brood loss during the transition, it all went in very nicely. Since then, they have only build one full comb & nothing more. There is brood, some capped honey, lots of pollen in cells & coming in on the bees, some nectar & eggs in cells. The queen is robust & busy. There are very few drones. They have 4 combs that came with the nuc, plus the one they built, all straight & perfect. I have given them 3 empty bars to work with. Should I expand their area more, maybe they are feeling crowded?

I did find a queen cell but my queen is alive & well & doing good, I don't think they are in a hurry to make a new queen.

I am getting a little nervous, it seems they should be building more comb by now. There are a lot of bees in the hive & it appears their colony is expanding. It has been in the 80's for the past few weeks so maybe the heat is bothering them, although they are not really bearding so I don't know if heat is a problem.

This is my first year, any advice would be nice! I followed Les Crowder's hive plans so I think the hive is designed well.

 

[J-Rat]

Try putting an empty bar between the full bars with comb. I would place an empty bar between bars 2 & 3 and between bars 3 & 4. When I add empty bars between full comb, the bees get very busy making comb.
This is my first year with bees also.

 

[jsorber]

What's your ventilation like? Too little or too much and it can shut down comb production as well, particularly if it's hot and/or dry weather. I have a hive that has a fully screened bottom and it was too much for them. I put a board partway under it and it made a world of difference.

 

[Snigglet]

Ventilation seems ok. The hive has a screened bottom but it is not open so essentially it is a closed bottom hive with the option of opening the bottom, we have yet to do that. They aren't bearding in the heat, but I've noticed through my observation window that quite a few are inside the hive on the floors when it gets hot, I am not sure what they are doing but they go back to the comb once the temps get cooler.

I will add some empty bars as J Rat suggested & see what they do, I think I will expand their area also by another bar & see how they like that...any other suggestions would be great!!!

 

[Greenride]

I agree with J-rat.
Also feeding 1 to 1 will help

 

[Snigglet]

I just looked in the observation window, it was like they were reading my mind -- they now have started a new bar of comb! In just a day, it is probably 3 inches long...today is cooler, I think the heat was stalling them. I will still give them a bit more room though the next time I am in the hive.