Brood box question

[Mairzy_doats]

I have 8 frame mediums. The hive in question has three boxes total on it. The middle one is full of capped brood, with only one frame half full of drone. The other frames have spotty drone cells here and there, nothing much. The top is currently being worked and drawn out. The bottom is just about empty. Can someone explain this? Its not being backfilled with nectar or pollen, infact most of the cells are completely empty with a few spotty drone cells on each frame.

The hive is a nuc that I picked up in april, could this just be from a major hatch out? Or is something else going on? I have not been able to spot the queen; I did a thourough inspection today and there is a lot of larvae in various stages, I couldn't see any eggs but it was overcast and I have a really hard time seeing thru that stupid net.  :roll: I did see one supercedure cell in the bottom box with the butt of a bee sticking out of it.

any info is appreciated.

~mary

[jajtiii]

If the bottom is empty, you could move it to the top (above your top brood chamber).

Bees seem to want to go up, or so everyone says, but my queens just go back down after they work up top for awhile (I only have a few hives, though.)

My mentor did advise me to reverse if I end up with a queen that seems to want to keep moving on up, which yours might be doing.