Hiving overwintered nucleus- when to do

[Ats]

Hi
I have had a 6-frame wooden nucleus which has- so far- survived through the winter.
I ended up with it after a number of very beginner learning curve mistakes late last summer, with a small nucleus requeened with a commercially brought Carniolan 2023 queen.
It exploded in numbers and went into the winter really brimming with bees. I’ve been feeding with fondant throughout, and it is still really pretty full of bees whenever I add new fondant. Bees are out and about, pretty active and pollen coming in.
When should I transfer to standard brood box? Current weather (southeast Cambridgeshire) is highs about 10-12 and still down low single figures at night.
Many thanks once again to all for all the help on this (quite addictive) forum
Adam

 

[Erichalfbee]

Hi Adam.
Bees are still dying faster than they are being replaced. I would wait for a prolonged period of good weather. Winter is not over yet
I don’t get into my hives usually till April.

 

[pargyle]

I'm like Dani - rarely go into my colonies until about April - unless March is blisteringly hot ! Beekeeping is not something you can do by the calendar. What you need to watch for is when there is a sustained flow of nectar on - if you don't have drawn frames that's when they will have the forage to draw the additional frames. Once the forage is available the brood rearing will begin in earnest and they will be looking for that extra space but it's a fine line between enough and too much. What you can do, when you feel the time is right, is move them into a full hive but dummy them down to say 7 frames so they are not overwhelmed with additional space. Within a week or so they will draw the extra two frames and as the brood area expands give them another couple of frames to play with. What you don't want is them dumped into a cavernous space and then find that the nights and/or days are not as warm as they might be as that would just set them back. It's all a matter of judgement !

 

[Ats]

Thank you both- that’s very reassuring- will do as suggested.
Adam