What To Do About the Sasha Hive?

The queen is laying a lovely brood pattern, utilizing nearly every cell on the frame. Yet, she continues to remain on the same 3.5 frames!

Last week, even thought the bees have not yet drawn out more frames, I added a second brood box in the hopes that they work up there in the event the queen wanted to move up. Sadly, that is not the case.

One success this week is that the bees are finally taking from the top feeder. Yes, that means the nectar flow is waning but I'm hopeful the 1:1 sugar syrup will encourage the bees to draw out more frames.

It apparent that the queen only lays when there are open cells on those 3.5 frames. One would think that she'd be commanding the hive to draw out more frames for her to lay in. The population has stayed visually pretty much the same in the past month. There is still plenty of time for her to fill out the hive population for a fall nectar flow, but without drawn comb for her to do so, I am beginning to fear that this hive will remain week going into winter.

Starting with drawn comb is such a plus in a case like this. Another lesson learned: When splitting a hive, give them drawn comb if you can.