feeding a hive with undrawn comb

[royl]

I added a 3rd super to one of my hives at the end of june. All of the frames in the 3rd super are undrawn. They are taking in about .5 to 1 gal of sugar syrup a day. In fact, I filled it up late last night with 1 gallon, and by the end of the day today it was completely gone! I have a second hive and I added another super (with undrawn frames), and they are pulling 1 gallon a week at best.

First of all, is this normal for a hive to take in a gallon a day? Second, is there a point where I need to cut off feeding them?

Thanks everyone for your input!

[Jacobs]

If you are trying to get them to draw the comb, you will need warm weather, a strong population of young bees, lots of nectar/sugar water, and bees that feel the need to draw comb. If you have strong populations that are building in numbers, the bees may be consuming a significant portion of the sugar water. You will want to keep an eye on what the bees are doing with the feed. Are they backfilling and getting nectar bound or are they drawing wax?

[royl]

I checked today and found that they are building comb in the new super. About half of the frames are 50% built in depth, and filled with a clear liquid (I assume this is sugar water/nectar/moonshine). I also found that in the second super (the middle super) they are filling every available cell. I saw a lot of larva and brood, but any unused cells were filled to the brim with nectar/sugar water.

I am not sure if this is a cause for concern or celebration.