# They Giveth and Taketh Away



## BYOBee (May 8, 2013)

Interesting.....I performed my initial inspection (post install on May 11th) of my two hives on May 16th and both had roughly 50 to 60% of the top box drawn and approx. 25% of the bottom boxes as well....thought this was pretty good considering various discussions I have read about issues with difficulty in getting bottom boxes drawn. Well, yesterday afternoon I performed a follow-up inspection. I was prepared to nadir a third box based on what I saw on the initial inspection. To my surprise, they had removed all of the drawn comb in the bottom boxes and were pretty much focused on the top boxes. The top boxes were virtually 100% drawn and at least 80% capped. I suspect that they realized that they did not have enough bees to adequately cover comb in the bottom box....hopefully when the new brood starts hatching in the next two days, they will start drawing comb in the bottom box.....any thoughts or ideas ?


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

if the top box is full, and the bottom completely empty. I would switch them put the bottom on top, bees like to go up.


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## BYOBee (May 8, 2013)

Thanks for the tip Ten...great moniker for a beekeeper ! I think I will try swapping the boxes....any possibility of a "tower of babel" occurring if I do this ?


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## briangutz (May 20, 2011)

BYOBee said:


> I think I will try swapping the boxes....any possibility of a "tower of babel" occurring if I do this ?


This is a real possibility. It will also impede your inspection the top box if you choose to inspect. You will have to cut the comb off of the top bars of the lower box and the comb will not be attached to the top bars of the top box. 

I think it was said best by Ricky Bee: Quote from another thread......

"The colony starts on installation with a limited number of workers to build comb, forage, nurse the brood, etc. They will build enough comb for the queen to lay in and for storage of nectar and pollen. The population will decline initially until the hatch-out rate exceeds the mortality rate of the older bees. It doesn't make sense for them to make more comb than they need to fill their current needs, since they can only keep a limited amount of brood warm. Once the first brood cycle emerges, you will see a dramatic increase in population, and you also will see the beginning of rapid expansion of comb, but it still may not extend into the second box. Now the queen has much more room to lay in for the next brood cycle, and the population will again increase dramatically in another three weeks along with another expansion of comb. When they need the space to expand into the second box is really just a matter of the starting population. They do not need any encouragement to expand into the second box. It's all a matter of population and how much brood they can tend to and keep warm with the existing population. They will expand into the next box when they are ready."


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## beemartin (Mar 13, 2013)

I switched my boxes and now wish I hadn't... they have built down on bars 1-3 in what was the bottom but is now the top, but have started building up on bars 4-6, nothing in space 7 and 8 yet.  I'm trying to decide what to do, the "towers" are full of brood, so I'll probably wait until they hatch out and then use hairclips/fishing wire to hang it from the top bars? I don't know... given my experience, if I found myself in the same situation again, I wouldn't switch the boxes.


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## BYOBee (May 8, 2013)

Thanks Beemartin....you are most likely correct....I'm gonna wait a few more weeks as the new brood emerges and the population expands and starts building out the lower box...then I will go ahead and nadir a third box


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## Rookhawk (May 20, 2013)

Could I see a pic of the hair clips people are using for such procedures? I'd like to get a better idea. Do you mean "bobby pins"?


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