Jonathan asks: "2. Do you feed a hive to the specific end of producing drawn
comb, forgoing
honey production?
3. Or do you super with deeps, and use the subsequent extracted frame for
starting hives the following year?"

Yes, to both.

For those who are starting out, I strongly suggest feeding, feeding, and
feeding to get their first drawn comb.  Under feed, they will get nice
straight, well-filled comb that will last for years.  This will require
foregoing at least the summer flow (if starting with packages) or the early
flows only (if starting with nucs).

If I have real strong hives I will often give some a full deep of foundation
to draw and extract...and use for brood the next year.  But I am not a
beginner...although sometimes I feel like one!

Once one has some experience, the best, least intrusive way of getting new
brood comb is to put five frames of foundation in the middle of a brood box.
Two drawn combs on each side.  Such a box cannot be on the bottom, and some
method should be used to keep the queen from laying above the box.  This
will result in five beautiful combs, with a minimum of honey loss.  If one
has 100 or so hives, a significant number of new drawn combs can be obtained
for use in comb rotation (throwing out the old) or hive expansion.



Lloyd
Lloyd Spear, Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacturers of Ross Rounds Comb
Honey Equipment, Sundance Pollen Traps
and Custom Printer of Sundance Labels.

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