To Nuc or not to Nuc - That is the question....

[Sundance]

I am getting 30 frames of brood this spring and 15 queens.

My question is should I go ahead and build 15 Nuc's? (lot of work and $$)

Or are the deeps I have OK? Can I use a divider board to make the interior area smaller for whatever makes a Nuc better than a deep?

Thanks

[Chef Isaac]

I am assuming you are getting bees too, right? IMO, go ahead and use deeps. Use one deep and when they have used the majority of the foundation, put another deep on.

[east_stingray]

A lot of the people here are going to tell you that you need nucs to do it. Then there's another group that will tell you to use divider boards. After that, there's some of us who would just put them in the deep. The nuc's probably make the most sense, but like me you seem to be $$ concious and you're exactly right... that would be expensive and time-consuming. Follower boards are going to get expensive for that many unless you build them, and I'd say your chances of success aren't too much lower just using deeps so long as the temperature's not real cold. Now that I've pretended to know what I'm talking about someone more experienced will come along and give you the real deal.

[Sundance]

The brood frames come with the clinging bees......

I am looking for high success. Am I naive in thinking I can just put a piece of 1X pine in there and reduce the box size area by 1/2?? Should cost little to nothing........

[Michael Bush]

Well, I live in a less Northern climate, but basically a cold one. I'd do the nucs or a follower. One frame of brood will be struggling to maintain a brood nest in a 10 frame deep. A follower can be pretty cheap. A full sheet of 1/4" exterior luan plywood isn't much and will make a at least 20 followers. You can cut it 18 1/4" by whatever depth you are (9 5/8"?) plus the dept of the bottom board (probably 3/4") and the beespace at the top (probably 1/4") minus the fudge factor (less than a beespace so 1/8" making it probably 10 1/2") and you can cut a one by 19" and rip 3/8" off the side and cut a groove for the plywood with a double saw kerf. Two blades put together will be pretty close to the right width or make two passes. The top bar (the one by ripped and grooved) will slide over the plywood. to make the follower.

[Sundance]

So................

With a follower (divider) down the middle a single deep becomes 2 Nucs??? Or is this too close?

Or how about a divider with a queen excluder and 2 colonies per deep?

I will have 2 frames of brood per Nuc.

[Michael Bush]

It's tight, but if you don't have a fat honey comb you can make two five frame nucs. But one fat comb and your down to two four frame nucs. But that's not a problem either.

I suppose doing to nucs per box would take less dividers but will be more confusing when you split the doubles into separate boxes. If you do two to a box, then put both the new and old box on each SIDE facing the old location. That way the returning foragers can figure out which is their hive instead of getting confused and all of the returning field workers going to the old box.

[cochran500]

2 nucs in 1 deep. I know folks probably do this successfully all the time. I tried it last year in 1 deep. I lost both nucs. So for me it was not very successful. Of course this was only 1 box so not much of a trial, but it was enough for me. I threw the $10 or $12 divider away.

[Ben Brewcat]

If placing a follower to make a deep more manageable for a new package, how many frames to start off a 3# package?

[Michael Bush]

I don't like the dividers as well because of that risk of "leak" between the two sides and losing one of the queens. But some use it successfully.

I like a five frame medium box for a package. In four weeks you'll have to move them to a larger box, but they really take off. I'm sure a five frame deep would work well for a package.

[Sundance]

Well I think I am going to go ahead and build 15 Nuc's. They will be useful for sure....... Eventually the deeps will need to be religated to hive bodies anyway

[Lew Best]

Hey Michael

What's the advantage to a 5fr nuc v a 10 fr hive body for a package?

Lew

[Curry]

Last year I made up about 30 nucs by making 15 "divider" boards (from 1/8" plywood). I glued the divider boards into deeps, and could still fit 5 frames on both sides (however, I chose to put a feeder plus 3 frames on each side). I had to make some homemade double entrances, but that was easy.

I liked this method because the nucs kept eachother warm. They would be clustered on the frame closest to the other nuc for warmth. The price was right cause I already had extra deeps. And, they're easier to transport since they're doubles. After they build up a bit, I remove the feeder and let them build to covering 5 frames before giving them the boot to their own deep.

[east_stingray]

Hey curry, you ever float Buffalo River?

[east_stingray]

Oh, and did you ever have problems with these "doubles" when you opened the top to inspect?

[Michael Bush]

I did. They either need separate inner covers or you need to make a cloth inner cover and staple it to the divider so you can keep them from spilling over the divider.