Too late to put a nuc into a hive?

[pargyle]

Now JBM....tut tut
I said I was an old fashioned gal......not the cave woman Big Senga from the Broch
I cycle if I can......but not on a Penny Farthing.

William Broughton Carr ... another good Yorkshire I beekeeper who knew a thing or two about insulation (Aye up lass - ee wus born in Bracewell)... nothing wrong with stuffing straw between the lifts and the hive and a slab of PIR (now you know what it is !) on top of the crown board will keep them snug even in your climate ! JBM is right ...

 

[Rockingod]

I can see no problem in transferring a nuc into a brood box at this time of the year. I regularly do the same. Better in a brood box than a nuc to overwinter in is my personal preference.
I use fat dummies made up of 3mm ply and filled with 25mm wide, sheets of Kingspan to pack out the sides. The roof will need to be well insulated as well (I insulate all my wooden boxes, again, using 25mm Kingspan). Just make sure that they are well fed and they'll be fine. Oh..and don't forget to keep the entrance way to single bee space.

 

[Swarm]

If it's a poly six frame nuc just add another six frame box.

 

[pargyle]

If it's a poly six frame nuc just add another six frame box.

It's timber .. that's why she's thinking they may be better in a WBC. However ... It's an option for my White queen ... but ... my Paynes are modified to 8 frames so ... I'd be giving them 16 frames ... my nucs are 14 x 12 so I could put a national box on there but still a lot of space .... and it would have to be on top as I have permanently 14 x 12'd them. So ... might be a big ask for them. I reckon I'll stick with putting them in a 14 x 12 hive.

 

[joelsoo]

If it's a poly six frame nuc just add another six frame box.

i have the same thing, started as 6 frame nuc, then last month before feeding i gave them another 6 frame nuc above it, so total there are 12 frames. i think i'd leave them as is now, as they are likely to be better this way (bees goes up, less so sideways) so to avoid isolation starvation, so felt its better to overwinter in 2 x 6 frame nucs stacked on top of one another, than 1x 12 frame hive where we intervene with their current setup..

they are still being fed and are taking on 1l to 2kg stronger syrup now.

 

[Swarm]

i have the same thing, started as 6 frame nuc, then last month before feeding i gave them another 6 frame nuc above it, so total there are 12 frames. i think i'd leave them as is now, as they are likely to be better this way (bees goes up, less so sideways) so to avoid isolation starvation, so felt its better to overwinter in 2 x 6 frame nucs stacked on top of one another, than 1x 12 frame hive where we intervene with their current setup..

they are still being fed and are taking on 1l to 2kg stronger syrup now.

Spot on.

 

[Swarm]

It's timber .. that's why she's thinking they may be better in a WBC. However ... It's an option for my White queen ... but ... my Paynes are modified to 8 frames so ... I'd be giving them 16 frames ... my nucs are 14 x 12 so I could put a national box on there but still a lot of space .... and it would have to be on top as I have permanently 14 x 12'd them. So ... might be a big ask for them. I reckon I'll stick with putting them in a 14 x 12 hive.

My reply was to the OP Phil, he has a poly nuc and wondering about his options.
I'm sure you have enough kingspan to arrange something for your Welsh natives.

 

[pargyle]

My reply was to the OP Phil, he has a poly nuc and wondering about his options.
I'm sure you have enough kingspan to arrange something for your Welsh natives.

Ahhh ... missed that and jumped a few posts ...it's my white queen from Ceri that are in the 8 frame poly nuc ... still undecided whether to move them into a full hive - on balance I think I will.. I used to be indecisive - but now I'm not sure ! I always have sheets of Kingspan laying around - I can't pass a skip without having a look

 

[Swarm]

Is that eight frame also 14x12, I assume it is. Two extra frames and a sheet of kingspan in a full 14x12? Should be ample.
I had one in a dummied swienty box, nine standard frames that did fine through the Beast from the East.

 

[pargyle]

Is that eight frame also 14x12, I assume it is. Two extra frames and a sheet of kingspan in a full 14x12? Should be ample.
I had one in a dummied swienty box, nine standard frames that did fine through the Beast from the East.

Yes Steve .. all my boxes are 14 x 12 - I was thinking exactly the same - it was a bit chilly down here tonight but I'm working from home tomorrow so will finish a bit earlier and the weather is looking better scheduled at 22 degrees and 23 degrees Wednesday so they are on the move. The weekend is looking good as well so I think it's going to be supers off ... and extraction.

Dellivery of Invert from Simon the Beekeeper arrived today so ready to go ... hives feel very heavy so it will be interesting to see what's in the brood boxes ... not been into them for a month now. No real need. Could well be the last inspection before winter apart from a few sugar rolls after I've got the supers off.

 

[Rowena]

Been reading this with interest as this week am intending uniting 2 of my Payne’s my polynucs but I don’t have the additional brood section however I do have a spare super and eke, measured these yesterday and it would give roughly an additional half inch of space between the 2 lots of brood frames. Will this be a problem?

By the way I love my Payne’s polynucs, I just clean off the excess wax and propolis (some very sticky bees here!) they are so handy and the bees seem to do really well in them.

 

[Swarm]

You may find some brace comb but it's worth a try IMO.

 

[Rockingod]

What’s a PIR?
Only reason I’ve not gone down the route of the poly Nuc, is that I’ve never really fancied a poly anything.
1) Possible issues with chunks/bits coming away from it as I try to prise bits of it apart?
2) Its light weight , I’ve already had my fingers figuratively burned, with a lightweight Pawlonia wood hive nearly tumbling over me
3) Trying to scrape off bits of comb and damaging it.
4) Cant torch it to clean it.
5) How long do they last before replacement?
6) Pollution more polystyrene added to the global pile?

If it helps I use PIR regularly. Some Poly packers that I use are here........

The beauty of these is that as the colony grows you can just take out 1 or 2 and replace them with frames.
Note the slightly different sizes to accommodate all situations. Just remember to duct tape the sides otherwise the bees will chew the exposed material. Also great for insulating my roofs etc.

 

[pargyle]

If it helps I use PIR regularly. Some Poly packers that I use are here........
View attachment 22071
The beauty of these is that as the colony grows you can just take out 1 or 2 and replace them with frames.
Note the slightly different sizes to accommodate all situations. Just remember to duct tape the sides otherwise the bees will chew the exposed material. Also great for insulating my roofs etc.

Don't use Duct tape ... the bees will chew into it and they get tangled up in the reinforcements and die ... use alumimium tape ... the bees won't attack that ... if you are in any doubt ...

 

[Rockingod]

A split I made back on 5th July has just reached the stage of being quite strong and filling the nuc. Back in the summer I wouldn’t have hesitated to put it into a hive but with the brood nest now shrinking, I think they’d over-winter better in a full poly nuc than an empty wooden hive.

Does this make sense? Or should I upgrade them to a bigger home? Suspect I’m worrying about them too much but...

Thanks!

Hi bengamind,
I was going to get a pic for you before but I didn't have a nuc setup in a brood box until today.
(Don't look too hard at the quality of the nuc and the lack of bees but I'd only just transferred them over and the queen was only laying on one frame). The brown stuff between the frames is pollen substitute (home made by the way and they love the stuff). I'll take a bet that within 3 weeks or so there will be BAS on 4 frames and the nuc will be bouncing.

The pic is more to do with the use of PIR sheets (Kingspan/Celotex whatever brand/make etc).
I use this set up regularly as you can just replace a sheet/s with a frame/s as the colony grows.

 

[Murox]

Nicely done Rocking, what's your recipe for pollen sub?

 

[user 6228]

wooden hives have a far larger CO2 foot print than a polystyrene hive... all the CO2 the bees give off burning sugars keeping the temperature up means a life time difference measured in tonnes of CO2.(some where between 100 to 500kg of CO2 per year.)

 

[Speybee]

Made up the wbc and took the Nuc back to my garden in the late evening.
Planning to open it tomorrow ( depending on weather as just on outer reaches of the radar, for rain) and remove the cage and have a speedy look for eggs/sealed brood.
The idea of sticking the Nuc inside the wbc casing was the option I was going to follow until I saw the Nuc again, it has a solid floor and only a wee hole like a bird box hole in this Nuc, am I correct in being concerned about the bees ending up with the Nuc hole not aligning with the entrance porch of the wbc and them getting trapped between the Nuc and the wbc lifts?
Otherwise I would have to use the other option of dummied down reduced size brood nest,with insulation material between dummy boards and wall of lifts?

 

[Rockingod]

Nicely done Rocking, what's your recipe for pollen sub?

Here we go.....The Rockingod's recipe.....
Fat free soya flour 30%
Brewers yeast 10%
Natural pollen 16%
Syrup (by weight) 44%
I mix it all in a bucket to a fairly stiff paste. If it's a little too stiff for your liking simply add small amounts of plain water a little bit at a time until the desired consistency is achieved. Not too sloppy (and sticky) but stiff enough for easy rolling out and handling.

 

[Murox]

Made up the wbc and took the Nuc back to my garden in the late evening.
Planning to open it tomorrow ( depending on weather as just on outer reaches of the radar, for rain) and remove the cage and have a speedy look for eggs/sealed brood.
The idea of sticking the Nuc inside the wbc casing was the option I was going to follow until I saw the Nuc again, it has a solid floor and only a wee hole like a bird box hole in this Nuc, am I correct in being concerned about the bees ending up with the Nuc hole not aligning with the entrance porch of the wbc and them getting trapped between the Nuc and the wbc lifts?
Otherwise I would have to use the other option of dummied down reduced size brood nest,with insulation material between dummy boards and wall of lifts?

Sounds as though you have got it all in hand. Raining this am. down here, hope it stays dry for you.