Which way to go????

[simonforeman]

Inspection day today....
2 hives doing really well and filling supers
The bought in queen is on 6 frames of brood in bb and they are still drawing out the outer frame that is next to dummy board. So 7 frames in box
The last swarm I caught 3 weeks ago I bought back home Thursday and inspected today... they are wall to wall brood on 6 frames. The queen is a big one nice and fat very dark so that confirms that it was not from my queenless hive they I newspaper combined with the first swarm.
My plan before I seeing this queen was to squish her and combine with the bought in queen as I'm looking to go into winter with the 3 hives and have run out of brood frames.

Options are combine and keep the swarm queen in the nuc with 2 frames that will be spare and add some 14x12 frames that I have (with eke on poly nuc) I know they will add comb to the bottom of the 2 frames but I can sort in the spring and try and over winter so I have spare queen

Or squish her

What would you guys do bearing in mind I have no more std frames or bb but do have spare 14x12 equipment and also a 14x12 bb that was queenless and was combined so is at the moment a 14x12 super and I can get stores from there.

Also the comb in the swarm nuc has been drawn out mustard colour... Looks radioactive and may glow in the dark...

 

[enrico]

I would go into winter with four hives and buy some more equipment!
E

 

[simonforeman]

That was my plan but her indoors says 3...lol

I may convince her otherwise... with it being a swarm I don't know how old the queen is but looks a beauty (seen allot on YouTube.. lol) so if it's 3 hives I think I may go for the nuc option and try and over winter her, but need to read and look up on overwintering a nuc.