I checked a hived swarm (in a deep) about 5 days ago and ~6 of the 10 frames had been drawn. With an eye toward keeping disturbance to a minimum, about how long should I expect the bees to've drawn on 7-8 frames -- during this flow -- so I would know to add another hive body? I'd like to preclude swarm-cell formation if possible, but don't want to add a box before The Girls really need it. Is there a rule-of-thumb re: time-frame for drawing during a spring flow? Maybe I'm over-thinking this, since (maybe?) merely opening the covers to peer at the frames probably doesn't really bother the bugs too much? Then again, I hear some old-school beeks say the bees can fill a hive body's frames in "no time", at times. I've already had several miserable swarm events this spring, and probably due to population density. Thought I'd added new boxes in time, but apparently the bees'd decided already to hit the road.
Mitch
Mitch