Making a split

[Alex Cantacuzene]

Hi, well we have two hives of which one is very strong. We have two emtpty hive box set-ups ready to go. I am building a nuc box as per plans on this board. My concern is that when I take the required frames and bees from the stronger of the two hives and put them in the new nuc box how far does this nuc have to be from the donor hive to prevent problems? Thanks

[PA Pete]

When I made up a nuc a couple weeks ago, and then yesterday, I put the nuc right next to one of the donor hives without any aparent difficulty.

Note that when you're making up the nuc, most of the bees who end up in it as a result of adhering to the frames of brood you move over are house bees, so they aren't yet familiar with their hive's location. Bees from the donor hive will continue to go to the existing hive, and when the house bees from the nuc are ready to forage, they'll orient on the nuc.

The only concern I can think of is that if the nuc has a frame of honey as it should, be sure the entrance is reduced to an inch or less for a week or two to prevent robbing until the capped brood hatches and the house bees become field bees.

Good luck!

[Michael Bush]

My nucs are usually right next to the hive I took them from.

[wfarler]

watch the plans on this site. the USDA plan comes up 1/8" short for the frames that are being commercially sold. I think it says cut the sides 19 1/2" and then put a 3/8" rabbit in each end. Check your frames before hand - I had to chisel that nuc to make the frames fit and the rest I added another 1/4 or 3/8 inch depth to the sides.

[Alex Cantacuzene]

Hi wfarler et al, yep there are some contradictions here. I ran into that and modified the frames until I realized that I will take full frames from a hive and then I'll really will have a mess. So, I made a little jig and took the router and routed out the frame rests. Will do that again next time because some of my lumber was warped, some was a bit thicker as it came from the neighbor's pantry shelves,it worked great and straightened the frame rests. Another thing that has me baffled is the front panel calls for a 3/4 x 3" opening but then it sits on a bottom board with the 3/8" clearance. Also it calls for another bottom board (closure board) and that confuses me. I'll work it out though. Part of my fun in beekeeping is the wood working in bulding the stuff. I also like to put together our steel pipe stands for the bee hives from scrap steel that we get from the neighbors' basket ball stands. Those stands get a band of "Tanglefoot" to keep the ants and other critters out. And so it goes, thanks for the come-back, take care and have fun.