Thornes Everynuc winter fondant

[Jengles]

Hi all,

I've got a colony across four/five frames in a Thornes Everynuc (picture borrowed from The Apiarist for those unfamiliar). It's got a block of fondant in the feeder at one end and they were fed well with syrup in the autumn, but they're not 'nailed down' heavy, and now we're mid-winter I'm suddenly wondering if they're going to be able to reach the fondant if they're clustering on the frames. Everything I've read says to put the fondant in contact with the cluster, and now I'm wishing I'd put them in my Paynes nuc which I have an adapted feeder for!

Would it hurt them if I transferred them to the other nuc so they could have the fondant overhead? It's going to be 12 degrees here tomorrow. My other option seems to be buying the Everynuc feeder from Thornes which would cost almost £50 delivered (the joy of living in NI), but that's cheaper than buying a new colony in the spring...

Advice much appreciated!

 

[Parsonage Bees]

I wouldn't move them.
Any space in the lid, above the frames? Squash some fondant flat, put it in a plastic bag with a slit in the bottom side.

Though temperatures not low enough for long enough I'd have thought. Inside a well insulated box they should be able to move around as long as the temperatures are above zero. For me winter has just started with the solstice. There's a way to go yet.

 

[Jengles]

I wouldn't move them.
Any space in the lid, above the frames? Squash some fondant flat, put it in a plastic bag with a slit in the bottom side.

I'll try that, thanks! There's not much room between the top of the frames and the roof but thin layer of fondant wouldn't hurt. I don't think I'll be using this nuc next year as it's not the best design!

 

[echidna]

I was looking after a paynes nuc and felt it needed fondant on top to give it any chance of overwintering. I made a wooden eke to fit around the lip of the nuc box. Since I didn't follow The Apiarist's detailed construction notes which involved putting a lip on the eke so the lid would fit, I then constructed a new lid using TA's suggestion (from another post) of re-purposed correx board lined with polystyrene. Not ideal but hopefully better than leaving them just with fondant in the feeder where they had to come up into it. (On mine I blocked the central access slit and cut a hole in the feeder area for direct access, but this wasn't mine to alter.)