Nuc vs single deep

[brooksbeefarm]

I have 2 nuc!s that I am going to take through the winter.These are 5 frame deeps and I made some 5 frame deep supers for them.I put drawn comb in the supers and the queen has moved up and laying.The bottom deep has 3 frames of honey with mixed in pollen,and 2 frames of brood, the workers are puting nectar in the upper deep.My question is,.would I be better off leaving them this way or put them in a 10 frame deep?I have always put them in a 10 frame deep.Have any of you tried this?I prefer not to disturb them because they are doing so well,but I don!t want to lose my girls to cold weather,we do have some single digit weather that hangs on for a week or two.I might add that all of my hives and nuc!s have screened bottom boards.Would like some ideas.Thanks in advance.

[riverrat]

I have had good success overwintering 5 frame nucs in double deep nuc boxes . I then spilt them in the spring and put into 10 frame equipment

[MichelinMan]

I am a beginner and have never tried what you are doing but I would opt for the 5 on 5 set up. Also, you said you have 3 frames of honey in the bottom super. I would put these rames in the upper box and let the queen lay in the lower box. I have heard that bees will more readily move the cluster up to get honey during the winter, but will not cross an empty frame to get honey on the other side of it.

MM

[brooksbeefarm]

Michelinman,Bees always move up in the winter.When I check my hives for stores in the fall I will make sure that 1 or 2 frames in the middle are empty so that the cluster can move up and the queen has a place to lay.The queen doesn!t like to cross over a honey barrier.The bees are putting nectar and pollen on the side frames and the queen is laying in the middle frames.It has been my experience that when they fill the upper super full they will force the queen down, where the lower brood has hatched out and start over.I have never heard that they wouldn!t cross over an empty frame to get honey?

[MichelinMan]

Brooksbeefarm:

What I meant was generally once all the brood is hatched and the queen stopped laying the cluster makes heat by shivering and consuming honey. As the cluster eats all the stores in the immediate vicinity, they will move left or right towards more honey. As they move they leave behind empty frames. Once they reach the last outer frame, there may be a number of empty frames between the cluster and the stores that are on the other side of the box. At that point they will move up rather than cross over the empty frames. This is why the bees are always found upstairs in the spring.

Please correct me if I`m wrong. I`m very new at this but that`s the way I heard it. I even heard of colonies starving to death when honey was available just a few inches away on the other side of that cold long empty expanse of empty frames.

The Beekeepers Handbook page 64 and 65 talk about this.
http://books.google.ca/books?id=ZLLB...um=2&ct=result

[RayMarler]

Hiya Brook, leave them just like they are, they should do very well like you have them, in my opinion.

[RayMarler]

It's still early enough in the year, they'll be moving honey up top as brood hatches out, I think you should do fine with the setup you've got. If you get any strong flows before it turns cold, you might even be able to add another super if you've got some drawn comb for it.

[IndianaHoney]

This year I'm building up my nucs to fill a 10 frame deep. They should end up with 7 frames of brood, and three frames of honey by Oct, and be packed with bees. I then plan to give them a couple pollen pattys, and 15lbs of sugar on newspaper. From what I understand, this works great. BTW, I'm not sure how much sugar they will consume, so I'll add more as needed.

[RAlex]

Last year I had a 5 frame nuc that was late, so added some honey in a 5 over 5 set-up. I also wraped them with tar paper. They wintered well and are now in a 3 deep with honey supers above them. I would winter them in a 5 over 5 setup , wrap them , but close off the screened bottom board before the real cold weather hits. Also make sure they have a top exit. We normally get around 120 inches of snow and temps down to minus 20. I am doing the same thing this year with another nuc except it is set-up with 5 frames deep and two medium 5 frames that are full of brood and honey .....G`luck with your bees ....Rick

[danno]

At our state spring meeting at michigan State I went to a short seminar given by a very well spoken Amish man. He talked about why this would work well. He brought up how bee's can do so well living in a wall cavity of a home. The cavities are generally 16" X 3.5" X 8' high. All the stores are directly above.

[riverrat]

. He brought up how bee's can do so well living in a wall cavity of a home. The cavities are generally 16" X 3.5" X 8' high. All the stores are directly above.

That was my thinking when I tried it. I was suprised at how well they did. You have to watch them in the early spring mine always take off and explode ahead of my 10 frame hives. My concern at first was warmth for the hive. When bees are in a wall they have the warmth of the house on one side to help keep them warm. What I have seen is my concerns have been unfounded

[danno]

I am going to try 2- 2 story nuc's pulled tight together and wrapped this winter.