1/ Drawn comb is gold. Especially for new beekeepers. Bees need to draw comb to develop brood and store food. If you want a big hive, you need drawn comb. It is a mistake to assume bees will just draw comb themselves. Here's why and how you can help. #beekeeping #drawncomb #bees

2/ Wax building takes a lot of honey and a lot of (young) bees. It takes 6-7 times in weight in honey for new wax to be produced. That means bees will only naturally build lots of comb during times of good nectar flow. And when they have a lot of young bees that just hatched.

3/ You can help bees build comb by feeding them sugar water. This is the best way to encourage comb building. I recommend feeding 1:2 sugar to water (very light syrup). Do not mistake this for 2:1 sugar to water (very heavy syrup). They turn heavy syrup into honey, not comb.

4/ Without lots of drawn comb, your queen only has a limited area to lay eggs and limits how big your hive could be or worse, could induce swarming. Also, your bees may not forage during a nectar flow and you miss out on honey. Worse, they backfill the brood chamber with honey.

5/ Remember, bees do not always draw comb automatically. It is up to us as beekeepers to help them out. Read this article by Meghan Milbrath on drawing comb for more details https://americanbeejournal.com/drawn-comb-is-gold/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=drawn-comb-is-gold

@BeekeepersHour