# Stopped building comb



## Amgbee (Apr 24, 2017)

I have two first year hives that were started with 2 boxes of bees. I have had them going for just over two months. I just checked my hives and one of them has built comb on just about all of the bars on the second box, thus allowing me to add another. The other hive only has the one full bar which I transported from the first box and only one other bar with about a baseball size piece of comb on it. All the other bars are bar except for the waxed twine that I attached to them and has been this way since I added the box about a month ago. The top box of that hive is completely full of comb/brood/pollon/honey etc and Larve. Is it normal that one hive builds faster than the other, just don't understand why they aren't building comb in the second box


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Have you tried feeding the box that isn't drawing some 1:1 syrup?


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## Prairie Creek (Jul 13, 2017)

This is my first year keeping bees. I have mixed results in getting the bees to build down into the next box. I have 2 hives of Russians and 2 hives of Carniolians. With the Carniolians, one hive built down in the second box on its own. For the other I took from brood comb from the upper box and exchanged it with an empty bar from the bottom box. During next hive inspection, I noted that both hives were building comb in their bottom boxes.

That was back in May of 2017. Now it is the middle of July 2017 and one of Russian hives had filled it's top box completely, at least 2 or 3 weeks ago, but has not touched the bottom box. I am going to try the same thing again and see if it works.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

If the nectar flow stops, the bees realise they must conserve their stores, so do not waste resources building comb. This can be reversed by feeding them sugar syrup.

But other than that reason for not building combs there can be others, including not enough bees to need more comb, or the hive is not healthy due to varroa mites or something else.


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