The swarm I think is a cast me and my dad and my baby brother put hummingbird feeders with sugar water l around the hive do you think it will work and is it normal for the queen and most of the workers to be on the wall and last frame and I do not see eggs they
have built three frames of comb but how often should a Cheak the swarm and when do we add the honey super and the top box feeder
Welcome to the forum.
Sounds like they have plenty of work to do. Leave them alone for a few weeks. Each time you open the box, the air conditioning is wrecked and they have to work hard to restore it. If you do that too frequently, they might abscond.
Normally, the queen would be laying in new comb straight away, but with a secondary swarm, the queen has to get mated and settled in before she starts laying. That’s another reason to leave them alone. Any disturbances could interfere with the process.
One of the most common mistakes beginners make is adding a super too soon. There needs to be enough bees and plenty of capped brood (more bees in the next few days), to protect and work the added space. There also needs to be a nectar flow on, so they can draw comb and fill it.
If the super is added too early, the bees will likely decline and be overwhelmed by pests such as small hive beetle.
I wouldn’t put the hummingbird feeders close to the hive. It could encourage robbing by other bees. If there’s no nectar flow, add an internal feeder with 1:1 sugar syrup. They’ll use that to build comb.
Be patient and let them do their thing. When it’s time to add a super, add an ideal first. That’s for them. After that’s close to filled and there’s still plenty of the season left, you can add the Flow super. You might not get any honey this season, though. A small swarm has a lot of work to do, just to be ready for winter.
Good luck and welcome to beekeeping, the best hobby in the world.
Mike
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