How To Combine Nuc With Hive?

[The Poot]

I have a queenless colony as a sealed cell left on has not produced a queen. I had removed the queen to a nuc as part of swarm prevention.
The colony swarmed anyway (!) and I broke down the swarm cells leaving one sealed cell on 28th May. I will recheck in a few days to see if there’s any change.
My best plan is to combine the old queen back. What’s the best way to combine a six frame nuc back to full hive? The hive is double brood with three supers.
TIA
Poot

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

If you have a nuc where you can remove the floor, get a 18x18" board to put on top of the receiving hive and cut a hole in it so you can sit the nuc on for the unite. Failing that, just get an empty deep, put the frames in that, dummy up with whatever you have handy (old frames or foundation, it's only on for a few days) and do a standard paper unite

 

[blackcloud]

If there a lot of stores take it out and condense the brood into one box with the remainder and the nuc frames into the other box with paper inbetween.Surplus brood frames shaken off and put in as well
Done this recently and worked a treat

 

[The Poot]

If you have a nuc where you can remove the floor, get a 18x18" board to put on top of the receiving hive and cut a hole in it so you can sit the nuc on for the unite. Failing that, just get an empty deep, put the frames in that, dummy up with whatever you have handy (old frames or foundation, it's only on for a few days) and do a standard paper unite

Thanks, but alas it’s a Payne’s nuc, so can’t remove the floor. I knew there was a workaround and you’ve reminded me of it.
I think I need to make a couple of nucs with removable floors as these Payne’s nucs do have their drawbacks.

 

[The Poot]

If there a lot of stores take it out and condense the brood into one box with the remainder and the nuc frames into the other box with paper inbetween.Surplus brood frames shaken off and put in as well
Done this recently and worked a treat

Thanks @blackcloud - as the number of bees has diminished, I reckon this would be a good way forward.

 

[Hedgerow Honey]

I usually put the nuc in a hive, move original colony & treat as drone laying and throw out as have been caught out by having a virgin in the original colony.
move any brooded frames into the box with the nuc on original site.

 

[Newbeeneil]

Thanks, but alas it’s a Payne’s nuc, so can’t remove the floor. I knew there was a workaround and you’ve reminded me of it.
I think I need to make a couple of nucs with removable floors as these Payne’s nucs do have their drawbacks.

I make nucs with external dimensions of half a brood box then when I want to unite a nuc with a hive I place the full nuc and an empty one side by side over newspaper. And place the roof on top. Simples!

 

[The Poot]

I make nucs with external dimensions of half a brood box then when I want to unite a nuc with a hive I place the full nuc and an empty one side by side over newspaper. And place the roof on top. Simples!

That smacks of forward planning, something alien to me
Excellent idea, thanks.

 

[StephenT]

Make enough space in the brood box they are going into and stick the nuc frames in with air freshener. I’ll tell you later if it worked on our latest one when I check the hive we did it to a few days back . It worked on two we did a while back but that was two weeks after we had nuc’d the queen after trying a different swarm control method.