> as soon as
> I placed an empty super of drawn comb directly above it, they
> immediately began to build comb.

That trick may work in some conditions, but in northern regions, at times
when nights are cool, it may not, since the added space above may cool the
hive enough that the bees retreat at night and cease work, so some careful
observation may be required when trying it.

Under cool conditions, crowding the bees a bit helps.   The idea is to keep
bees on the foundation and full of nectar or syrup at all times while it is
(hopefully) being drawn.

While a good hive may require many supers of drawn comb, foundation has a
lot of empty space, and therefore accommodates far more bees per box until
it is drawn, and putting on too many at once may result in nothing much
happening.

The rule I use with foundation, when drawing entire boxes, is to put on only
as many boxes at a time as the bees will occupy fully, and to keep the
foundation down next to the brood and covered with bees.

Since the amount of space in the hive diminishes rapidly as the foundation
is drawn out and filled, regular visits are advised to progressively add
more room as indicated.

Another point to keep in mind is that getting the bees started drawing wax
can be difficult, but once they start, they will keep going unless
conditions become too unfavourable.

And one more: some hives just won't do a good job.  They will either do very
little, do crooked work, or chew the foundation.  Another hive next to it
may do a nice job.  That's life.

> Everyone has different methods and tricks that work for them, this
> one works for me.  Hope it works for you as well.

allen
A Beekeeper's Diary: http://www.honeybeeworld.com/diary/

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