YorkshireNewbee · Yorkshire, UK · Swarms · Jun 15, 2026

Swarm I caught 10 days ago is drawing nothing but drone comb — should I give them foundation?

Caught my first ever swarm off a neighbour's fence post 10 days ago and hived it on foundationless frames with starter strips because that's what I had. Went in yesterday and they've drawn four beautiful white combs... and basically all of it is drone-sized cells. Big fat cells everywhere. Queen is laying in them too. Is my queen a dud? Did I do something wrong hiving them? I've read colonies want maybe 15-20% drone comb but this looks more like 80%. Should I pull these combs and swap in wired foundation before they get any further, or let them carry on? Only got the one hive so I can't donate worker comb from anywhere.

#swarm#foundationless#drone-comb#beginner

▲ 14 votes 💬 3 replies ✅ Solved

3 replies

CorkBeeRon · Jun 15, 2026 · ✅ Accepted answer

Perfectly normal, don't panic. A swarm that's been on foundation its whole life has a drone comb deficit, and given free rein they build drone comb first to catch up. It levels out — once they've got their 15-20% they switch back to worker cell. What I'd do: move the drone combs to the outside positions, and alternate your remaining empty frames with one or two of foundation if you have it. The foundation acts as a worker-sized guide and keeps the new stuff straight. Queen's fine, she just lays what she's given.

ImkerinLena · Jun 15, 2026

Agree with CorkBeeRon. I run foundationless in half my Bavarian apiary and the first flush from a swarm is always drone-heavy. One caution: all that drone brood is a varroa magnet in June, so it doubles as free mite monitoring. Uncap a patch at purple-eye stage and look for mites before you decide on treatment timing later in the summer.

YorkshireNewbee · Jun 15, 2026

Thanks both, huge relief. I've got a part pack of wired foundation in the shed so I'll alternate those in at the weekend and shove the drone combs to the edges. Will check a patch of capped drone for mites while I'm at it.

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