Small nuc?

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Joined
Jun 9, 2009
Messages
1,065
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Location
Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire.
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
9
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?
 
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
 
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.
 
Must be a Yorkshire (God's Country) thing Hawklord bee-smillie, 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. :nature-smiley-011:
 
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
 
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.
:grouphug:
 
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. :nature-smiley-011:

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.
 

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