# second brood box



## Ed K (Oct 24, 2003)

I added a second brood box to each of my hives. I took one of the frames that was being drawn out from the edges of the first box and moved it toward the center of the top box. Should I have moved more frames from the bottom box to the top to draw the bees to it? Should I have moved a frame with brood?

Thanks

Ed


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## justgojumpit (May 5, 2003)

I think what you did is fine. The bees will fill in the spaces around their brood nest, and they will move the honey to where they want it.

justgojumpit


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## Orville (Jan 25, 2005)

Make sure the lower frames are almost all drawn out before adding the second super. You can then put only foundation in the upper super if you wish, for the bees will busy themselves drawing it out to make it usable. I always feed my bees 1:1 sugar water while they are drawing out foundation. I'm no expert, but this has worked for me.


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## justgojumpit (May 5, 2003)

Another thing you can do to save money on foundation is to alternate frames of drawn comb with completely empty frames, with no foundation at all. The bees will draw beautifully straight comb within the confinements of the empty frames. It is all about the laws of bee space. I think you will find also that the bees will draw comb on empty frames faster than they will draw foundation. The only thing you have to be careful with is that until the bees have made good connections to the sides of the frames, you need to keep the frames in their upright position during inspections. This has become a habit for me anyway due to my experiences with top bar hives.

justgojumpit


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## Orville (Jan 25, 2005)

It's interesting that bees will draw out perfect comb in an empty frame. How would the unsupported comb withstand honey extraction, if it were so used?


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## justgojumpit (May 5, 2003)

It should be fine in a radial extractor, but I would be a bit hesitant extracting anything more than a medium, especially in a tangential extractor. Make sure that there are plenty of comb attachments before extracting. The bees may never connect to the bottom bar, but as long as the sides and the top are well connected, you should be fine if using a radial extractor.

justgojumpit


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