The bee strategy is: by adding a new box of frames with foundation on
this strong overwintered colony. The bees will draw out the foundation
because I am feeding them syrup. The queen will move up and start laying
on the new comb. After a couple weeks, as the daily temperatures warm
up, I will remove the bottom box. I will use the bottom box for package
bees that come at the end of April. This will give me an advantage of
starting package bees on drawn out comb. The package bees will increase
their population quicker because the queen has the whole box of already drawn comb to work
with.
If I had started the package bees on the new foundation, the population
of bees would grow slower. As I only have about 7500 bees in a 3 lb package of bees working on
the foundation.
Using a strong overwintered colony to draw out the new foundation, I
will have probably 15,000 bees working on it today. As the population
grows in the overwintered hive, there will be more workers to make comb
on the frames. The bees should have this new box drawn out in about three weeks.