From:                   Bob Harrison <[log in to unmask]>

> Steve asked:
>
> Bob,  does attempting to get comb drawn during a main flow have any
> negative effect on the amount of honey you get?
>
> I believe it does but not sure the amount of honey lost.

   I think I've seen the figure of 7 or 8 pounds of honey used to
make a pound of wax. I've also always understood that bees are gonna
make a certain amount of wax whether they need to or not, as they
process nectar into honey. So the amount of honey "lost" by having to
draw foundation may well be a moot point.

   Well drawn comb is one of a beekeeper's most valuable commodities,
so we try to draw some each year, and protect it as much as possible.
If I used packages, I would do a lot of feeding to get the brood
chambers drawn, but we don't use packages. In our situation we are
producing nucs at this time of year. We have already done a lot of
feeding to stimulate the queen. On strong colonies we dad put a box
of mixed comb and foundation on top.  Now as we pull all colonies
down by removing a lot of the brood, we will usually add a couple
frames of foundation. I like to add it (to a ten frame box) in
position nine and seven, with a frame of new (from last year) comb in
between, if possible, or a frame that has a lot of bees and nectar in
between. This will put the young bees in the right position to urge
them to draw the comb. It usually works quite well. I rarely try to
draw entire boxes of foundation.

   Sometimes Ma Nature screws it up. Right now our flow has halted
due to a week of cool rainy weather, and we are worried about the
hives not yet worked, having a week to think about building swarm
cells. I made 22 nucs this morning in the rain, but quit when the
lightning started crackling close by.  We did a lot of swarm control
early, by reversing bodies and adding space, and it's held off
swarming quite well -- so far. But now hives are getting pretty
plugged up. No break in the rain forecast till the weekend.

Dave in rainy SC  USA, where the mosquitoes are on steroids
The Pollination Home Page:  http://pollinator.com

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