Nuc Feeding Advice

[Sootydog]

I have recently bought a five frame nuc. As I was short of equipment I placed them in a national hive and added frames of foundation and shut the entrance down. They were given 2 pints of syrup followed by a further 2 pints a week later especially as the weather has turned a bit iffy. They have been installed for two weeks now and are not really drawing much comb. Should I keep feeding? The queen seems to have enough laying space at present.

 

[richardbees]

Can I suggest you cut some 5 ply to size to block off the rest of the box and limit to 6 frames - who knows where that 4 pts of syrup has gone?

By restricting the brood area they might stop expending energy in exploring and concentrate on drawing comb!

richard

 

[huntsman666]

4 pints is very little. I'd give them all they want of 2/1 syrup until they are well settled in and the weather greatly improves. Say two more weeks.

I wouldn't worry about using dummy boards this time of the year.

They'll draw comb when the need it. Keep in mind a queen will lay in a partially drawn cell and let the workers finish it later.

 

[Mike a]

4 pints is very little. I'd give them all they want of 2/1 syrup until they are well settled in and the weather greatly improves. Say two more weeks. I wouldn't worry about using dummy boards this time of the year. They'll draw comb when the need it. Keep in mind a queen will lay in a partially drawn cell and let the workers finish it later.

So once the brood nest is full of syrup where will the queen lay?

Sootydog
Only feed if required, if they have plenty of capped stores and wet stores you've given them then there is no need to feed them any more. Only way to know and that is to inspect them.

The colony needs young bees, lots of young bees for the queen to continue to lay an ever increasing amount of eggs per brood cycle, to keep the temperatures high enough to raise new brood and of course draw out new frames and for them to expand and grow.

What they don't need is the brood nest full with excessive amounts of syrup, which must be hard work to keep heated, the queen wondering around looking for a few empty cells to lay in and if you over feed them then expect queen cells and stunted expansion.

 

[oliver90owner]

with richardbees.

I disagree with huntsman666 re feeding and therefore with Mike a. Mike is about spot on with his assessment.

The nuc should have a couple frames of stores in total. Yes, watch the weather and monitor their stores. Feed if necessary. The nuc should be a self contained small colony able to expand with help from the beekeeper as required.

It was supplied as a 5 frame unit because that is the size of home it had expanded to (possibly from as little as only 3 frames originally - who knows) or was made up to, just before purchase. One would not expect to put just 3 frames into a full box, so why should you be expecting them to go from 5 frames to possibly 12 in one step!

They need to be kept warm and well fed (but not over fed). Bees need high temperatures for effective brooding and also for wax production.

Regards, RAB

 

[Finman]

.
It is summer now. Nuc is settled when you drop tthe hive on ground.

When colony has 5 frames, it needs one full frame food - all together counted- to survive couple of weeks in bad weather.

Who knows what weather is next week? You cannot nurse hives according forecasts.
Normally bees get more food in summer than they consume.

You have 5 frame nuc and now you wait how it expands.

 

[Poly Hive]

They should not need feeding unless the weather is really dire.

It is worth watching what your bees can achieve in adverse conditions by the way.... a swarm I hived on Saturday evening by Monday (rotten Sunday here with high winds and at times sheeting rain showers) had two frames of stores.

PH

 

[Sootydog]

Thanks to everyone........ one more question. Where would you put the new frames of foundation. I have them on the outside of the original five frames. As they are drawn, I was going to move them inwards but I'm concerned about putting a thermal break into the center of the brood nest. I'm guessing that whatever I do should be done gradually

 

[Busybee123]

They should not need feeding unless the weather is really dire.

PH

Weather here has been dire! Had a quick look at bees today and thought they were a bit low on stores. Gave each colony (nuc) a litre of 1:1 syrup to tide them over. I'm probably being overly conservative but don't want them to be short of stores

I'm finding that I can immediately get an idea of amount of stores on a frame by feeling the weight of it when I lift it out. It is difficult to judge the amount of stores in a hive, but hopefully it will get easier as I gain experience.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Also depends on available forage of course.
It's been rainy and windy here for the best part of 2 weeks and the main forage (gorse, may, chestnut etc) has gone over. The June gap has come early here.

 

[Busybee123]

Also depends on available forage of course.
It's been rainy and windy here for the best part of 2 weeks and the main forage (gorse, may, chestnut etc) has gone over. The June gap has come early here.

Same here. Unseasonably good weather in April forced everything on early. Hawthorn is all over (and all washed out anyway) and there's precious little forage around now. Don't expect there will be much until weather improves.

 

[Polyanwood]

The limes are coming inot flower here...though following the first proper rain for ages, i guess they will be washed out.