Small nuc?

[Hawklord]

I may have chance of a gift of a 4 frame nuc next week, will this be too small to over Winter? The reason I want it is because the queen is from excellent stock, but I don't want to get rid of the queen I already have. My current colony has about 9-10 frames of brood so I could maybe pinch a couple of frames from that to boost the nuc, what do you experienced beeks think?

 

[oliver90owner]

Do yo intend to take it through the winter as a nuc?

4 frame nuc? 2 frames of bees + 1 honey stores + 1 pollen? Or 4 full frames of bees? Approx -50 to +100%

If your other colony has that much brood (I am pleasantly surprised) at the present time, another 30-40k bees possibly, over the next three weeks, and still laying, there is certainly enough brood to lose a frame or so!

At the risk of sounding just a little misbelieving, unless your colony is on 1 1/2 or double brood, which you have omitted to mention, I would suggest a recount of the present situation before actually making a decision.

Regards, RAB

 

[Hawklord]

I'm not sure about the nuc until I inspect it, but I presumed it would be 4 frames of brood. My other colony is a single national brood with brood/eggs covering 9+ frames. The bees are still putting honey in the super, that's honey not syrup.

 

[East Yorks New Bee]

Must be a Yorkshire (God's Country) thing Hawklord , two of my hives still have between 8 and 9 frames of brood and one of them is still going hell for leather bringing in pollen and nectar, and it was only a five frame nuc when I picked it up on the 3rd June this year, didnt expect any honey this year but have one super full, they are just finishing capping it off.

 

[Frisbee]

I may have chance of a gift of a 4 frame nuc next week, will this be too small to over Winter? The reason I want it is because the queen is from excellent stock, but I don't want to get rid of the queen I already have. My current colony has about 9-10 frames of brood so I could maybe pinch a couple of frames from that to boost the nuc, what do you experienced beeks think?

Boost it if you can, feed well, and make some polystyrene/plywood dummy boards to reduce "vain"* space, make them snug for the winter. Polystyrene in the roof above the crown board is useful too. Face the colony with the plywood or they will eat the polystyrene - or you could paint it.

* if you've not been on the forum long enough to know what vain space is, it's wasted space which is cold. One of Finman's terms which should go into canon.

Frisbee

 

[Hombre]

what vain space is, it's wasted space which is cold. One of Finman's terms which should go into canon.
Frisbee

As Frisby said, a term oft used by Finman to describe a void that does nothing and costs the bees a lot to heat. A term that has been adopted affectionately on this forum and oft to be seen used with increasing frequency by others.

Finman is a very wise (not so) old gent that is driven to distraction by having to repeat himself to an audience that often seems to ignore his sage advice, in a seemingly self destructive way. His English is at times more picturesque than exactly accurate, but heed his advice as he´s been round the block a few times. His solutions do not always reflect UK thinking, but hey, this is beekeeping and regional conditions differ enormously.

 

[Rosti]

Must be a Yorkshire (God's Country) ... didnt expect any honey this year but have one super full, they are just finishing capping it off.

You've got better nerves than me! bottled it, gave the part-capped super back to the girls and started my Fumidil feeding, they've taken the best part of 6 ltrs in 24h.