Low on space but not drawing foundation

[dolbz]

I went to check on my colony this evening. They're starting to look very packed onto their 5 frames and they've got lots of stores as I've been feeding to try and encourage drawing the foundation. There's not a massive amount of laying room left but certainly enough to keep the queen busy for now. They've done a small amount of drawing out of one side of a piece of foundation but left the rest alone.

So the questions are...

Is feeding to encourage comb building effective? It doesn't seem to be working here. They're not filling the brood with stores ready for the winter already are they?

As space is getting tight and I don't fancy a swarm on my hands should I leave them without food for a while after they've finished their current batch of syrup? I think some of the stores are actually nectar. There appears to be some nectar (possibly blackberry?) still flowing round here.

Thanks

 

[Midland Beek]

As Poly Hive would say: manipulate.

If they have drawn one side of foundation, flip it over for them.

 

[oliver90owner]

Is feeding to encourage comb building effective?

The answer to that is generally: Yes. The problem is, it is immediately filled with those stores and the nuc does not actually expend all their efforts into brood expansion, which is what you want. More bees is the name of the game, not more stores.

Regards, RAB