Merging 2 nucs into a hive

[match]

I currently have 2 nucs which haven't taken as well as I'd have liked - one had a queen which is now being superseded, and I don't like the look of the other one (she's the same size as the rest of the workers).

I have another hive which is doing ok, but isn't as strong as I'd like, so I want to merge them all together. For merging hives I usually use the newspaper method, but obviously this doesn't 'just work' when the boxes are different sizes.

I've been given 2 different suggestions on how to achieve this, but I'm not sure which to go for (or if there's another, better way), so am happy to receive any wisdom you guys can offer!

In both cases I'll get rid of the unwanted queens/queen cells a day or 2 before I start. I'll also take the 'good' frames (brood and stores) from the nucs, brush off the bees and move them to the target hive.

Then...

Option 1:

Put a layer of newspaper on the target hive, add an empty super/eke and dump the bees from the first nuc in without frames. Let them unite (a couple of days?), then repeat with the second nuc. Finally, remove the super, newspaper and any brace comb.

Option 2:

Take both queenless nucs, spray with sugar syrup and shake together into a single box. Give them a while (how long?) to unite, then do a newspaper merge of this 'temporary hive' into the target one, as above.

I don't have experience of combining queenless colonies with sugar spray, so I have no idea how successful option 2 would be. However it would be faster and require less manipulations and potentially provide less disturbance to the target hive than option 1.

Any thoughts?

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Others can confirm but I thought the wisdom around here was that three colonies do not fight, suggesting a one-off supermerge into the new hive, perhaps double-brood depending on how much brood there is.

 

[Skyhook]

Another option- main BB with newspaper on top. Add 2nd BB with 5 frames from nuc at one side. Put newspaper into the space so it goes across the bottom and up against the last frame, tight against the edge all round (needs to be single sheet to do this, pick your paper with care) then add frames from other nuc.

I'm rusty on this, but wait for others to confirm time from re-queening to combining. 2 days sounds just long enough to start building queen cells.

.

 

[oliver90owner]

It used to be sensible that 5-frame nucs had the same footprint as a full hive. Not always the case these days.

If the same size, unite the two nucs and the unite to the hive? Or both nucs on top of the full brood?

Spray them all, or coat them in icing sugar, and chuck them in together?

Look at what you have and make up your own mind.

 

[drstitson]

as per o2o - if using nucs with removable floors unite then transfer.