I am new to beekeeping and am having a problem with one of my hives.  I
received a 3-lb package of bees with an Italian queen on May 3.  Most of the
bees were dead but the queen was still alive.  I ordered a replacement
package but also decided to install this package to see what would happen,
after all the queen was still alive.  I started feeding them sugar syrup.
The workers began foraging in earnest, gathering lots of pollen and honey.
They started building comb on the new foundation but soon stopped after
filling 1/2 of 1 frame with comb (both sides).  The queen layed eggs in all
of the cells that were not filled honey or pollen.  But she has nowhere else
to lay.  In addition the brood that is capped appear to be all drone brood
(large rounded cappings).

Prior to noticing the drone brood, I thought a possible way to alleviate the
lack of comb would be to add plastic frames.  This would allow the queen to
begin laying again.  But the appearance of the drone brood indicates
something else may be going on.  The number of worker bees is also now very
small 100 to 200 maybe.  If the queen did start to lay in abundance, the
workers could not tend the young.

Any suggestions on how to save the hive?  I don't want to give up on it.

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