Hello Milt.
I am afraid I will disappoint you, but unless there is a nectar flow on or an
artificial
nectar flow (1:1 sugar syrup), bees will NOT build any comb for any reason.
Since you
appear to be a beginner, let me explain.

Bees have to eat about 8 pounds of HONEY (which means they have to eat a LOT
MORE
nectar or sugar syrup) to get the energy to produce and construct 1 pound of
wax comb!  Hence, the bees just won't build comb unless they have a need for
it.  Bees only
have two reasons to build comb: 1) build comb for the queen to lay eggs in,
and 2)
build comb to store nectar, home, or pollen.

Unlike you and I, bees can't plan ahead; so they won't build comb in March in
anticipation of a spring nectar flow.

One of the reasons that I collect any and every swarm that I hear of is a
swarm is DESPERATE NEED of comb so the queen can lay eggs and so the bee can
regurgitate the honey they are carrying in their honey stomachs and store it
away.  When you dump a
swarm on 10 sheets of foundation, almost overnight, lots of comb is
constructed.

The great majority of beginners just don't feed a new package of bees near
long enough to get foundation drawn.  The proper way is to start a package in
April or May and feed it CONTINUOUSLY WITHOUT STOPPING for 3-4 months, or
until about
Labor Day.  By doing that, you might get 30-50 frames of foundation fully
drawn, and you will feed maybe 50 pounds of sugar, or about $15-$18 of sugar.
 Then, you will have a roaring big colony really ready to make a wonderful
crop of honey for you in the following spring.  Pretty cheap way of doing it!

Too often, many of the "old timers" either did not have the extra $15, or
figured that
wild bees didn't have any feed, so their bees did not get enough feed, and
the bees either died or came through the winter weak, and the honey crop in
the following spring was not very good.

I taking the liberty of assuming that you have not read a VERY GOOD RECENTLY
WRITTEN book designed for beginners and novices about beekeeping, and hence
you are a beeHAVER instead of a beeKEEPER.  For less than $30, buy THE
BEEKEEPER'S HANDBOOK, 3rd Edition of April 1998, written by Dr. Diana
Sammataro.  I use this book to teach beekeeping to all my beginning adults,
and they love it.

I hope that I have helped you, and write to me anytime about almost any
beekeeping
problem.

George Imirie
Certified EAS MASTER BEEKEEPER
Starting my 70th year of beekeeping in Maryland
Author of George's PINK PAGES about Up-to-date Beekeeping Management