# bees still building comb at low 50F



## Jaljala (Jun 2, 2017)

First winter for my TBH, 21 bars have combs built (not full size down) - 6 bars of brood, 15 bars of partially capped honey/syrup (been feeding since end of September because they had low stores).
It is not cold yet but in low 50s this week, days and nights and lots of rain. They were not taking anymore syrup last week and they seemed to be clustering (from observation window) but they would go out whenever the sun came out and still bring in some pollen (asters).
Now I have a question because I insulated the hive last week, with rigid polystyrene panels inside the roof (on top of top bars) and on long sides of the hive. I have a thermometer inside and outside of the hive and I could clearly see temperatures were higher after insulation was put on (while it was 48F outside, it was still 65F inside, end of the hive, the furthest away from the brood area). 
Yesterday I peaked at the observation window, and I could see that they are still building comb! they expanded the edge of brood combs by a good inch at least on 3 to 4 combs... I am wondering if I should feed them more (syrup or bricks?) to give them resources to build if they want to without depleting their stores, or should I remove the side insulation panels so the temperature does stay to high inside the hive and forces them to slow down? :scratch:


----------



## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

They won't build more comb if they don't need it to store nectar. So unless there is a natural nectar flow, they shouldn't consume the honey stores in the hive just to build more comb. I wouldn't recommend any more wet feeding if they are up to the amount of capped stores that you want for your area. I do always add a sugar brick in my hive to give them something to work on while it's too cold to go outside. They seem to eat the sugar before they get into the capped honey stores, and it doesn't add extra moisture to the hive like the syrup does.

I have a warm winter, so I only insulate the tops of the topbars and only add the side panels if/when we get the one week of "winter" here in Virginia. My bees are usually out foraging most winter days and about once a week, I put out a open feeder during the winter so they can top off the stores.


----------

