@Gardum I think Peter is onto something, and it would be worth considering that your bees were preparing to swarm well before you put the super on. They have their own timetable and we do our best as beeks when we learn to notice the signs and respond in concert. I’m in the process of wrapping up my fifth season of beekeeping, and this is my first one where I’ve started to feel a bit more clued-in regarding colony build-up and swarming signs.
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Hey Peter,
I got the NUK on the 06/02/20, transfered into the Brood box on the 07/02/20, the NUK was packed full and I doubt another three bees could have fit in there :).
The Brood box had five new wax foundation frames.
I checked before putting the frames into the Brood box for any Supercedure or Swarm cells and found none.
Checked the hive two weeks later and they had spread out and were working well into filling the hive.
Two weeks later so 07/03/20 I put the Super on as the hive was packed, there was a really good flow on as the Paperbark and Bottle Brush as well as the Palms in the area were all in flower, there were assorted other plants in flower as well like Nasturtiums and Salvia and a Blue flowering ground cover and many more in my area as well as in my garden as all the plants in my garden are Bee/Bird friendly and I have a large watering feature for the Bees/Birds that is kept clean and filled with rain water.
I am new to Honey Bees but an old hand with Stingless and yes they are like Chalk and Cheese in their behaviour as well as their swarming habits.
Stingless won’t swarm if they have the room and will be quite happy to have three or four Queens in the one hive.
I thought I checked the Hive well for Queen cells but it was a month from when I placed the Chinese knock off on to when they swarmed.
They were all over the frames and going into the cells so it looked like they were going to use them but the last check I did, not a drop of Honey was being placed into them and I didn’t know I had to coat them until I came back and found they had swarmed whilst I was baby sitting the Daughters Children and Home.
The Bees had placed a little propolis in and around the Fake frames but no wax to seal any cells, the Brood box was full of brood and Honey as well as Pollen, I think the Bees didn’t like the taste of the fake frames ? as they were all over them just like they are over the real Flow frames.
I placed the Flow super onto my Brood box on the 14/08/20 and they have filled all the frames bar the two outer ones and those they have started to fill the outer cells just now when I had a peak through the rear.
Looks like the frames will be full in another couple days.
The three centre frames are full and capped and the frames on either side of those three are 95% capped and cells full, I would say the outer frames are almost full on the inner side as I can see honey through the outer cells.
I don’t pull the Flow frames out as the Brood box is healthy with no SHB or any other problems and so didn’t see the need to do more than use the rear and side to see what is going on.
I am sure I missed something as I am a newb and quite happy to admit a lack of knoweledge as far as Honey Bees go.
I expected to make a few mistakes in the first two or three years 
Thanks for your responses.
I am hoping the new Queen I get from NSW will calm my Hive as now they are a lot more aggressive with the new Queen they made.
Looking forward to harvesting a frame or two in the next week or so as I think once the outer cells are capped it’s ok to harvest that frame ? Cheers
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Thanks for the post, it had made me think further about what you have experienced and with you including dates has been a big help.
You began with a nuc when your area, as was most of Australia, in a severe drought. And there lies the issue with the bees not using the Chinese frames in my opinion. Your bush would have been flowering well as it was up here, but with no nectar in the flowers the bees had nothing but ‘survival rations’ so they ignored the super. Add to that you didn’t put any wax over the frame cells to give the bees a familiar smell I think combined to cause your issue.
A good show of flowers doesn’t equate to a good nectar flow in a drought. Back at the start of this year I had to feed my colonies when I realized a lack of nectar in the frames and a reduction in bee numbers in all my hives. I was a bit slow in figuring out what was happening with so much in flower.
Bees are capable of prioritizing tasks and if there is no nectar flow they wouldn’t work on sealing the cells in the super, the super would be ignored in favor of just getting as much nectar as they could to just survive. Actually you did really well to have the colony survive, I think it was in January or February I got an email from a chap on a property near Killkivan asking for advice about a total lack of activity in the 20 hives he had. I took the time to go and have a look and basically what I found was all the hives were starving, no nectar or capped honey, but again the bush was flowering. None of the hives had enough population to survive and by March they were all dead. When I did that inspection I was a bit stunned that in ‘human terms’ the bees had given up.
Food for thought about your situation back then. It I was you I wouldn’t right off the Chinese frames and I would coat them with wax and give them a try on a hive this season which has been really good so far with the regular passing rain and a forecast of a wetter than normal Spring.
I’m going Down to the Gold Coast on the 20th for a few days mentoring so happy to drop in on my way if you like, I go down via the Gateway so no problem to drop in.
Cheers
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Hi @Peter48, would bees wax bought from a supplier be suitable to coat the frames.
Regards Steve
Yes, or the cheaper alternative is bur comb (stray comb) from the brood box.
You don’t need much. Just smear a bit in the middle of the frames to entice the girls up.
Sorry, I’m not Jeff 
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I’m sure you can scrape enough bur comb from the frames to do the job. All you really needing enough to make a familiar smell to the bees coming from the super and the wax you have rubbed or brushed on the cells is a bonus for the bees having to produce bees wax, Your bee gear supplier will make a good income without you buying something that you will find already in the hive, amazing how much bur comb you can find in a hive. Cheers
Sorry I’m not Jeff either Fred. I caught up with him for a couple of hours last Friday towards sun set. Compared notes and exchanged s few ideas over a coffee and a cake Wilma had baked. Jeff said the story that Flow (Cedar) was going to contact him was nothing more than a story and never happened, it is sad that blocking Jeff’s input to the forum wasn’t appreciated enough for the issue not at least be discussed and a compromise reached for the benefit of the forum. 
Cheers mate
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Glad you’re still here Peter. Please give Jeff my regards when you see him next.
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I will definately pass that on to to Jeff. I’m having him supply splits to me to build up a second apiary i have started up.
Cheers Eva and glad to read your posts, it is an eye opener to read about bee keeping in other climates,
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Likewise, please send my regards to Jeff.
I just realised I typed Jeff instead of Peter… oh well, it was one of knowledgeable duos of this forum.
I have learnt a lot from both you and Jeff.
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That would have been great, unfortuantely I won’t bee at home that week as we are going Whale watching with the Daughter and grand kids, it’s been organised for a while.
Hopefully there is a next time as I enjoy chats with other Bee keepers, especially ones with experience :).
You could have pointed out all my mistakes ;), I am sure I have made some .
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I bought a kilo of wax for that reason and was very unhappy with the quality as it was very black, nothing like the picture they showed on Ebay.
The picture on Ebay was a bright clean yellow, what I got was more like a bar of dark chocolate and milk chocolate mixed.
Not game to use it now, unless there is a way to melt it and clean it ?
If it’s from eBay it could be from anywhere, ie China, and may not even be beeswax. It could contain any number of chemicals or pathogens and I would not be putting it in my hives if it were me.
It was supposed to be wax from Bees in Perth and was why I bought it as I always make sure they are local or at least Australian sellers, trouble is some of them say Aussie and are really Asian and you can tell by how long it takes to get here.
It can be very risky purchasing beeswax from online sources unless they have a good reputation.
May I enquire as to how much you paid per kg?
I think I pointed out better options in my opinion, but I’m not into pointing out mistakes, Much better to suggest an option and people will sometimes try them. cheers, and happy to catch up at a time that suits you.,
Cheers
$54 and it was around the average lower price for a KG of Wax, I think though after seeing the end result that I got ripped off lol.
I didn’t want to bother my Bees by taking their hard earned Wax as it was only a new colony and so I didn’t mind spending the money as I am retired and allow myself an allowance that I hadn’t used for that month.
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That is cleaned and filtered wax that I sell for $27/kg. So I think you were ripped off considering what you got.
Cheers
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That is what the picture looked like in the Ebay listing.
I wouldn’t have bought it if the picture was of the item they actually sent.
With me what you see is what you get, But some on Ebay are a bit dishonest I think…