7 lbs of honey to make 1 lb of wax is what they say. If they are staring with nothing, they need tons of sugar/energy to make that comb. They will burn through a quart in a couple of days. If you haven't fed them by now after a week, they are probably starving. Next time you feed, give them a second jar, or move to 2:1 to give them more sugar in less space. Heck, I'm feeding swarm splits with leftover solid candy board from this winter!
You almost can't feed a new package enough, don't skimp, get a costco membership and ignore the people giving you strange looks with your several 25 lb bags of sugar!