BBKA Forum

Hi everyone,

I don't have many drawn combs and I'd like the bees to draw more. I have some that I took out last week as they were full of autumn syrup.

Can I place these removed frames in another deep box and sit them on top of a crown board - making that upper chamber essentially a feeder?

My thinking/ideal scenario here would be the bees go through the hole in crown board, empty the frames full of stores and use them to draw out frames of foundation. Then next week I return to find plenty of nice, dry empty combs upstairs and drawn combs downstairs - their having used the sugar syrup to make comb.

I feel I'm expecting too much

That's a perfect idea tbh BUT break the cappings on the comb first and it should work a treat.

If you don't break the cappings first they won't move it that's all

I expect at this time of year, they are more likely to fill the frames rather than empty them. Bees prefer honey above them, so you could consider putting the frames under the brood box. As an illustration, I checked a double brood colony today for the first time in a month. The top brood box was full of stores, with the queen laying in the bottom box. I have swapped them over and put a couple of supers on top. Hopefully (I am expectant but expecting is never 100% reliable with bees) they will transport the honey up and into the supers and as the queen continues to expand her brood nest she will lay in the box below.
If you want to empty the frames and not have the queen in them, you can try this, from bottom to top
Closed floor
Brood box
Queen excluder
1" entrance eke
brood box with queen
queen excluder
super(s)
crownboard & roof.

Or just extract the frames in an extractor.

I don't have an extractor at the moment. Was hoping to use the association one but maybe that's not such a great idea nowadays.

I'm more drawn to Chris' idea as yours sounds like hard work Adam
@Chris - do all cappings need to be broken or will a certain percentage get the bees going?

@Adam is that method a more "sure" way to get them to do what you want? I was hoping they would use this syrup to draw some foundation. Two birds with one stone and all that.

I put frames with brood in a new top box and fill with foundation. I put frames with pollen under brood and the frames of liquid stores either side of those. I use an uncapping fork and remove cappings from them. I usually find they use that to draw out the foundation in the top box. Remove when empty.

Try and see!

So there are two votes for sticking the stores underneath for the bees to take up.

I guess I should do this promptly so it doesn't interfere with honey crop. Or get another brood box for my nuc and make them my comb cleaners...

Japey Edge wrote: ↑

06 Apr 2020, 17:18

@Chris - do all cappings need to be broken or will a certain percentage get the bees going?

90% plus ideally, just run the hive tool over them.

Try bruising the stores you want rid of with your hive tool and place back in brood box. Bees do not like opened honey around them and will clear them PDQ....usually.
It's same idea as Mick's uncapping them but quicker....

If the frames where mine and full of sugar syrup I would not really want the bees to clear them at this time of the year incase they move it into the supers..I have a brood box full of frames like yours..those will be getting used when it is time to make nucs with bought in Queens.