Explodeing Nuc

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Joined
Jun 4, 2015
Messages
9,135
Reaction score
14
Location
Co / Durham / Co Cleveland and Northumberland
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
17 nucs....
I have never over wintered a nuc but one out of three is jam packed with bees.. i have moved them about to try and level things out but this nuc is still full to the brim..

Can i put them into a full hive this late in the year. ? .bearing in mind i have not opened them up for over a month... just a visual check through the clear crown board..
 
Wouldn't it be ok to add them to a Brood Box with Follower Boards made from Insulation at each end of the Box so that you are only enlarging their space by one or two frames at a time? Functionally the same as a Nuc but one or two frames large?
 
What make is it ? If its polly could you put a mini polly super with drawn frames on top to give a bit of space ? Or dummy them down into a spare brood body with a frame each side of what they have ?

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk
 
What make is it ? If its polly could you put a mini polly super with drawn frames on top to give a bit of space ? Or dummy them down into a spare brood body with a frame each side of what they have ?

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

I agree. That is the way to go
E
 
My nuc is in a similar condition.

I'll be inspecting at the weekend and will either choose to ignore the problem, add a super or maybe, if things are really tight in there, add a brood extension.

Is the issue a lot of bees or a lot of brood? I guess, unless they are swarming or have no room for stores, then a well packed nuc is likely to do better over winter than the same cluster in a brood box.
 
6 frames of about to hatch brood will fill a standard National... move them into a full hive and put new frames to the outside.... and feed.
It is only mid September!

Yeghes da
 
What make is it ? If its polly could you put a mini polly super with drawn frames on top to give a bit of space ? Or dummy them down into a spare brood body with a frame each side of what they have ?

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Paynes six frame poly nuc...;)
 
I'm in the same situation although mine are in a BS honey bees nuc and every time you open the lid they are stuffed up into the feeder, after reading the replies I ordered myself another Abelo hive today and will hopefully get them moved across next week.
 
I'm in the same situation although mine are in a BS honey bees nuc and every time you open the lid they are stuffed up into the feeder, after reading the replies I ordered myself another Abelo hive today and will hopefully get them moved across next week.

Yes this Nuc is the same..i can not feed them as they are drawing wild comb in the feeder compartment which is also full of bees...if i try to put any syrup in i would drown loads of them..
 
Bit of bad luck, was doing the feeding round last night and lifted the lit and seen barely any bees in the feeder. Looks like they have done a late season swarm. Checked this morning again and appeared to be even less. Annoyed as well as it was a bought in GM queen this year.
 
Yes this Nuc is the same..i can not feed them as they are drawing wild comb in the feeder compartment which is also full of bees...if i try to put any syrup in i would drown loads of them..
Why hadn't you thought of putting another brood on in good time before you got to this situation
 
Bit of bad luck, was doing the feeding round last night and lifted the lit and seen barely any bees in the feeder. Looks like they have done a late season swarm. Checked this morning again and appeared to be even less. Annoyed as well as it was a bought in GM queen this year.

That's a bit of bad luck Angry..i also have four 2018 GM Queens and they are laying a crazy amount of eggs.. I went through the jam packed nuc yesterday and it had four frames full of sealed brood..one side of the fifth frame was full of eggs and the rest stores..if I had left them any longer no way on earth would they have been enough room for the emerging brood... I put them into a dummied down 8 frame poly hive and I am still 50/50 if that is enough room for them... I will be keeping a close eye on them and the other nucs.
 
Added a five frame brood box to my nuc today and rearranged the stores upstair and brood frames including two empty drawn frames in the bottom box. That's better.
 
That's a bit of bad luck Angry..i also have four 2018 GM Queens and they are laying a crazy amount of eggs.. I went through the jam packed nuc yesterday and it had four frames full of sealed brood..one side of the fifth frame was full of eggs and the rest stores..if I had left them any longer no way on earth would they have been enough room for the emerging brood... I put them into a dummied down 8 frame poly hive and I am still 50/50 if that is enough room for them... I will be keeping a close eye on them and the other nucs.

False alarm. :cheers2: Turns out I'm a plonker albeit a happy one.

Lifted the lid again this afternoon and lots more bees in the feeder, did a quick inspection and queen was present.

Really cant understand how the past few weeks every time I've looked in the feeder its been full of bees and then yesterday and this morning almost empty despite feeding. Do bees take weekend breaks?

I need to make some insulated division boards as well.
 
Added a five frame brood box to my nuc today and rearranged the stores upstair and brood frames including two empty drawn frames in the bottom box. That's better.

I am on Paynes six frame poly nuc's with feeder.. i know you can get a poly eke but can you get a spare six frame brood boxes for them..? .. either way this colony has tightly fitted into a eight frame dummied down poly hive and all seems good.;)
 
I am on Paynes six frame poly nuc's with feeder.. i know you can get a poly eke but can you get a spare six frame brood boxes for them..? .. either way this colony has tightly fitted into a eight frame dummied down poly hive and all seems good.;)

Yes you can get a 6 frame brood to fit on top of that nuc ,you can get a top feeder too handy if you make the nuc into a 8 frame
 

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