any jelly or an egg? its whats inside that matters
Very very true.
And if it is only one (look
very carefully) then supercedure is a definite possibility.
as they have not filled the bb would adding a super be advisable at this time of the year
Most likely they are congested because they have stores frames 'bookending' the brood nest and preventing its expansion.
IF the Q runs out of cells to lay in, they would swarm. Believe me!
Without drawn comb to throw at them, the best you can do is try to push them to draw new foundation, to make more space usable.
Two ways to do that
- old favourite, put foundation frame between the last frame with brood and the next (stores) frame. You could do this on both sides of the brood nest. Don't "split the brood" with foundation - surround it with foundation. Just one frame at a time, each side, maximum. Another one in there once they have started
using the last one.
- put a shallow box underneath the brood. They might draw it, they might not. But at least you are giving them the opportunity. And getting newness (which the bees dislike) knocked out of the box.
Your bees are going to have a tough winter if they swarm.
First thing, don't let them want to. (Even temporarily stealing almost all of their stores would help them to realise that swarming would be a bad idea in that situation.) /// Some would advise extracting some stores frames from the brood box to get empty comb to put alongside the brood nest. Not everyone has that capability, and if you've been feeding syrup, its going to be syrup not honey that is extracted. Oh, and STOP feeding immediately, if you are!
Then make sure you are prepared with a spare hive (of some sort) and frames so that you could do a pre-emptive Artificial Swarm -- IF it comes down to it. An AS and then recombine wouldn't be a disaster. Losing a swarm at this point would be a bit of a problem for a small colony.
