I am now officially a 2nd year beekeeper - both of my hives survived the winter here in New England!
I did my first full frame-by-frame inspection yesterday, and in each brood box I still have 2 or 3 undrawn frames (at the outer positions). They are wooden frames with plastic embossed foundation. I suspect the bees may have salvaged the wax off of those frames, so if they are bare plastic I understand why they won't draw it out. I am getting some beeswax so I can re-coat the foundation to see what happens then.
Last year I was told to move in the outer undrawn frames one at a time in between already-drawn frames; all that did was cause the bees to draw the adjacent frames even more, where the tops of the comb got into the next frame's space and mad it a mess to remove the frame.
Any suggestions how I can get a nice 10-frame drawn brood box like those I see in other hives?
Right now I put on some 1:1 syrup to feed the bees and hopefully that will help them draw wax.
Thanks,
Steven
I did my first full frame-by-frame inspection yesterday, and in each brood box I still have 2 or 3 undrawn frames (at the outer positions). They are wooden frames with plastic embossed foundation. I suspect the bees may have salvaged the wax off of those frames, so if they are bare plastic I understand why they won't draw it out. I am getting some beeswax so I can re-coat the foundation to see what happens then.
Last year I was told to move in the outer undrawn frames one at a time in between already-drawn frames; all that did was cause the bees to draw the adjacent frames even more, where the tops of the comb got into the next frame's space and mad it a mess to remove the frame.
Any suggestions how I can get a nice 10-frame drawn brood box like those I see in other hives?
Thanks,
Steven