How much time have the bee's got left to draw comb

[Curly green finger's]

Hi I'm trying to work out how much time there's left of the season for drawing comb I've just put a 6 frame nuc into a deep box 14x12 national and have a few concerns about them drawing it out before the season ends.
I was thinking and by my records they have untill September .
There is still a flow on so at least that will help.
And hopefully the British weather will be ok for 4/5 weeks .. yeh fat chance..
Your thoughts pls..

 

[Dadnlad]

If it's a strong 6 frame nuc ie 5 of bias and in need of hiving then they'll have no bother drawing 5 frames of foundation by the end of september

 

[Ian123]

Bees will draw comb into December if it’s mild and you provide a feed. I often have nucs drawing and laying up foundation all through November but many sites are also blessed with a good showing of ivy

 

[Millet]

I put a six frame nuc in a full hive a couple of days ago as it was busting with bees..however I filled the space with drawn foundation to lessen the work of the bees having to draw new foundation.

 

[madasafish]

Sorry but the climate for the OP is VERY different from those replying from the South..

Round here, comb drawing ends September .. Frosts October - well it used to be but who knows what G Warming will do?

 

[Finman]

.
I got a swarm 5 days ago and now they have drawn one box of langstroth foundations.
I fed them with two crystallized honey combs.

Half of the wax they need to combs comes from foundations.
They are 100 g/sheet.

Day temps have been 14-15 C in every day.

What they need is pollen frames from another hives.

 

[Finman]

I put a six frame nuc in a full hive a couple of days ago as it was busting with bees..however I filled the space with drawn foundation to lessen the work of the bees having to draw new foundation.

Bee number rised 100% in couple of days....WOW!!!!

 

[Finman]

Bees will draw comb into December if

Sounds like winter rest.

December is really good time to make nucs.

 

[Poly Hive]

If that is the case then how was it that in darkest October in Aberdeenshire I had colonies happily drawing out foundation and laying it up? Love to know??

PH

 

[Ian123]

Plenty of bees draw new comb in jan and feb plenty of small nucs produced comb in the candy containers and bags this winter in that stupid warm week we had. But certainly happens quite often in warmer winters. The point is bees don’t follow a calendar but will respond to conditions actual dates are an irrelevance

 

[Ian123]

Best way to build a winter nuc pull a frame of store and jam a frame of foundation slap bang in the middle of the brood nest with a bucket of feed on top. Next visit frame should be drawn laid and the top filled with stores. Obviously only done with decent size nucs full of bees

 

[Ian123]

Sounds like winter rest.

December is really good time to make nucs.

Don’t be daft finsky I said bees would build comb not make up nucs. But I have made up v late nucs and done cut outs with very little saved comb in nov.

 

[Finman]

Plenty of bees draw new comb in jan and feb plenty of small nucs produced comb in the candy containers and bags this winter in that stupid warm week we had. But certainly happens quite often in warmer winters. The point is bees don’t follow a calendar but will respond to conditions actual dates are an irrelevance

Strange, that bees draw combs in winter but not in summer

 

[Curly green finger's]

Thanks for the replys sounds like they'll be fine i won't be inspecting them untill the first week of September and it will be my last before winter.
Thanks again and enjoy the rest of your summer.

On a lighter note I went to put a super back on yesterday on the green colony and they were very unhappy no gloves as this colony are gentle 10 stings ish to the rists now I can't hold my pint properly lol.... 5 mins later it thunders like mad and rains .
Weather most deffo ..

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

@Hivemaker. has always said the best comb is drawn in the middle of a brood nest in September. But he IS in Devon...

 

[Erichalfbee]

@Hivemaker. has always said the best comb is drawn in the middle of a brood nest in September. But he IS in Devon...

That works in Wales too

 

[madasafish]

That works in Wales too

And ITLD does that as well from his blog (when winter feeding).. And he is in wildest Scotland..

 

[Ian123]

As with all things beekeeping it pays to be adaptable. Bees will stop taking feed when we get hard frost but more often than not we will get a cold week or 2 and the next few can be mild enough for them to take more down. Last year I did a late cut out I managed to get a couple of buckets into them but not enough. I managed to top them up and they built out several frames in December after an initial cold period when they refused feed

 

[Curly green finger's]

Hi I'm trying to work out how much time there's left of the season for drawing comb I've just put a 6 frame nuc into a deep box 14x12 national and have a few concerns about them drawing it out before the season ends.
I was thinking and by my records they have untill September .
There is still a flow on so at least that will help.
And hopefully the British weather will be ok for 4/5 weeks .. yeh fat chance..
Your thoughts pls..

An up date on the colony I transferred ( local mongrel bee's) .
I feed constantly with 1:1 syrup and they have drawn out all 5 frames in three weeks and back filled 4 frames with syrup/ honey just out of interest as the deeps are new to me what weight should I be looking at for winter Shropshire hills based apiary sy8

 

[Poly Hive]

Check my nuc experiment thread.

PH