Strips, foundation or comb in a mating hive?

[ugcheleuce]

Hello everyone

I'm a little confused about what to put into a small mating hive. On previous occasions that I mated queens I put the queen into a fairly sizeable box along with empty comb or foundation, but I seem to recall that that's not the normal way of doing it. What should I put into a small mating hive?

I know there should be a pound of fondant, but should I put empty frames with starter strips, or frames with foundation, or frames with empty comb into it?

I've read somewhere that if you start with empty frames, you can judge whether the queen has mated successfully by whether the bees build comb or not, but is that true? And even if it is, does that mean that empty frames is the norm?

Thanks
Samuel

 

[For want of a better word]

We add a starter strip glued into place with a run of fresh molten beeswax.

Have a number of colonies of bees in apidea ( keilers / Swibines) that have frames drawn down and eked out to six inches!... on second and third brood cycle........

Yeghes da