Small hive - transfer to a Poly Nuc box?

[sean-a]

I have a hive where I left a feeder on which I filled with straw and took out the plastic cup quite a few bees made it up to the feeder but not back into the hive and perished in the super above.
The remaining bees are in a quite small cluster.
Would it be sensible to transfer them into a poly nuc box for the remainder of the winter and hope they get through it?

 

[ericbeaumont]

Depends what you mean by quite small, Sean.

Sounds like you have a brood, a super and a rapid feeder. The hole in the rapid feeder will have compromised survival by creating a chimney through which the colony will have been losing nest heat consistently.

Remove the feeder and the super if it's uninhabited; seal the crownboard holes and have ready at least 50mm of building insulation board (look in skips) cut to fit and sit on the face of the whole board. Add an empty super or an eke to give space for the insulation. All this should take no more than a minute. Slide in the varroa inspection board under the floor to help retain heat.

These changes are the minimum that will prevent loss of nest heat and so give them a chance; if the nest is tiny then no matter what you do they'll be unable to generate enough heat to survive. Transferring to a nuc is more disruptive and best left to a warmer day.

 

[Erichalfbee]

On a warmer day you could do all of the above and add an insulated dummy inside

 

[user 6228]

no need for a eke or super on the top if you make the kingspan the exact size of the crown board. Definitely put in the varroa tray and duct tape the varroa tray slot closed. An external wrap of correx will keep wind and rain off the hive body.

 

[ericbeaumont]

no need for a eke or super on the top if you make the kingspan the exact size of the crown board

Provided there's enough depth for the insulation board between crownboard and roof.

 

[user 6228]

Provided there's enough depth for the insulation board between crownboard and roof.

the roof rests on the kingspan(PIR) and the PIR on the crown board. if your PIR crushes at the edges because its soft or the fit isnt good enough put a another smaller piece of PIR in the middle to hold the roofs weight. If you can see the PIR when the roof is on it doesnt matter. You can put foil tape on the edges

 

[happyculteur]

If the straw was for insulation it should have been in a set up where the bees couldn't get in. I overwinter with a crownboard above any feeding arrangements, and then a 2nd. brood box packed tight with straw, then another cb, then the roof. But I never open up in winter.