Feeding a transfered Nuc

[sussexbaker]

Hi all

I've just got myself my first colony, and I've realised I need to feed it. All of the guides I've read suggest using a contact feeder, however I've only got a miller feeder. Would I be alright just using that or do I need to fashion some sort of contact feeder as a stopgap?

Thanks

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

When you say need to - is it that they have no stores at all in the nuc or are you just following the advice of some who say you should feed a newly hived nuc rergardless. How much stores were there in the nuc when you transferred? you should have at least the equivalent of one frame of stores for them to be alright until the next inspection and that's assuming there is no forage out there for them to collect. Feeding loads of syrup at this point will just mean they will store most of it in the empty comb leaving no room for the queen to lay.
Forget contact feeder a 3 pint rapid feeder is the best bit of kit for the occasional feed. You could use your miller feeder but that's a big bit of kit when you only need to give a little food

 

[sussexbaker]

When you say need to - is it that they have no stores at all in the nuc or are you just following the advice of some who say you should feed a newly hived nuc rergardless. How much stores were there in the nuc when you transferred? you should have at least the equivalent of one frame of stores for them to be alright until the next inspection and that's assuming there is no forage out there for them to collect. Feeding loads of syrup at this point will just mean they will store most of it in the empty comb leaving no room for the queen to lay.
Forget contact feeder a 3 pint rapid feeder is the best bit of kit for the occasional feed. You could use your miller feeder but that's a big bit of kit when you only need to give a little food

I was just following Ted Hooper in a rather sheep like manner! I wasn't going to follow him to the letter, but I googled and found quite a few guides that all suggested feeding until the additional frames of foundation I'd added had been drawn. It looked like there was over a frame of stores, so I shan't panic, and shall return to thinking for myself a bit more!

Thanks

 

[Finman]

.
The nuc has now good food stores. 1 store frame is safe.

 

[Erichalfbee]

And don't put them in a big empty hive with 5 or 6 frames to draw. Just give them one or two at a time and dummy the rest of the space. Happy beekeeping !

 

[pargyle]

I was just following Ted Hooper in a rather sheep like manner! I wasn't going to follow him to the letter, but I googled and found quite a few guides that all suggested feeding until the additional frames of foundation I'd added had been drawn. It looked like there was over a frame of stores, so I shan't panic, and shall return to thinking for myself a bit more!

Thanks

There's a lot of old fashioned thinking in some of the books ... you will get a more modern, balanced and informed view from some of the experienced (and some not so experienced !) beekeepers on here. But ... you will still get conflicting opinions so thinking for yourself is a good starting point.

JBM has given you the advice you need IMO ... only feed when they actually NEED food .. ie: they have not enough stores to feed the colony for the imminent future ... is a good point to start.

 

[sussexbaker]

@EricHalfBee - I gave them three new frames of foundation, and put a dummy board on the other side of them so hopefully they won't feel it's too cavernous a space!

@pargyle - I suspect that Hooper and Bees at the Bottom... are the two most old fashioned books I've read. Hooper seems good for the nitty gritty, but I've balanced him with Michael Bush's trilogy, the Rose Method and now reading an American book on organic bee keeping (which I have to say is the best of the lot so far). Also been lurking (with the odd post) on here, biobees and Beesource. My worry was taking that step from the theoretical to the practical. JBM's advice was very helpful, if only to calm my fears

 

[Dishmop]

This might seem like I'm being Mr Grumpy but I've never seen so many posts regarding the feeding, or not, of a nuc.
Is it really too much trouble perhaps to have a look back to see if the question has recently been asked....

but in this instance it obviously is because there must be at least two posts asking just exactly that question on each page for the last week.

A swarm hanging in a tree forages for food and will build comb.........so...err..
perhaps.....

I've just got myself my first colony, and I've realised I need to feed it.

with respect but how did you come to "realise" that?

 

[itma]

Contact feeders are often advised for weak colonies (but it really doesn't matter unless its either cold weather or they are very very weak).

I'm happy to agree with Mr Jenkins that one of the (£6 ?) white plastic round rapid feeders is the most useful starter feeder - even if I think their capacity is usually quoted as 4 pints!

The big Miller feeders are fine for heavy pre-winter feeding, but overkill most of the time.


Drawing comb burns lots of sugar which the bees must forage as nectar.
Feeding thin syrup can reduce the amount of foraging that they need to do (especially if your forage is currently lacking - a 'June Gap' may affect some but not all locations). No harm offering them thin syrup, just don't expect them to guzzle it before it goes mouldy!

 

[itma]

This might seem like I'm being Mr Grumpy but I've never seen so many posts regarding the feeding, or not, of a nuc.
…
A swarm hanging in a tree forages for food and will build comb.........so...err..
perhaps.....

Important differences between a swarm and a nuc include their attitude to comb drawing!

And the amount of stores they have …

 

[sussexbaker]

with respect but how did you come to "realise" that?

As I said in my subsequent post, bit of panic that I wasn't following Hooper to the letter, followed by some googling which led me to believe that I had clearly gone off piste.

A fair point regarding the use of the custom search up there.

 

[itma]

... It looked like there was over a frame of stores …

@EricHalfBee - I gave them three new frames of foundation, and put a dummy board on the other side of them so hopefully they won't feel it's too cavernous a space!
…

If you have a frame that is all stores (no brood) you can put that to the back (next to the dummy board, then one frame of foundation, then the frames with brood, then another foundation frame (or two if you really must).
Between stores and brood is the place to get a frame drawn fastest - but just one at a time!

 

[pargyle]

@pargyle - I suspect that Hooper and Bees at the Bottom... are the two most old fashioned books I've read. Hooper seems good for the nitty gritty, but I've balanced him with Michael Bush's trilogy, the Rose Method and now reading an American book on organic bee keeping (which I have to say is the best of the lot so far). Also been lurking (with the odd post) on here, biobees and Beesource. My worry was taking that step from the theoretical to the practical. JBM's advice was very helpful, if only to calm my fears

Well ... you should get a fairly unbalanced view from that lot !! I came into beekeeping with much the same reading list but my views and ideas have and continue to change ... keeping an open mind to new (and some old) ideas is good ... read about insulating hives is one bit of advice I would offer.

 

[sussexbaker]

Well ... you should get a fairly unbalanced view from that lot !! I came into beekeeping with much the same reading list but my views and ideas have and continue to change ... keeping an open mind to new (and some old) ideas is good ... read about insulating hives is one bit of advice I would offer.

It certainly opens your eyes, and makes for a more confusing place! Small cell vs 'standard', top entrance vs bottom entrance, etc etc! Insulating hives seems to be another area where there isn't a lot of agreement. I've gone for Poly hives on the grounds of insulation though.

Football time

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

even if I think their capacity is usually quoted as 4 pints!

Yes, it is, but their capacity is actually more like 2 litres so three and a half pints (Ish) so I went for the smaller amount in case some pedant butted in

 

[Dishmop]

Important differences between a swarm and a nuc include their attitude to comb drawing!

And the amount of stores they have …

Surely they both have the same objective tho?