Easy 5-frame nuc plans

[odfrank]

Some of them completely propolize screened holes.

[Clay]

I was just reading a thread by michael palmer about wintering nucs, and he said something about drilling a 3/4" (i think) hole in the back of his nucs. I'm about to make some splits with some nucs I made using D Coates plans, but I'd rather get the vent holes in now before the bees get in . Anyone overwinter well with these nucs? Did you use any ventilation?

[therub]

Two quick things.

1. Thanks to D Coates for this thread. Outside the 'post your bloom dates' threads, this is the most viewed thread on this subforum. Its been viewed as much as many of the Beekeeping 101 threads. So kudos on a great and valued contribution

2. Since someone asked a question about more efficiently using the plywood for the 8 frame medium nuc layout, I decided to play around a bit. So instead of 7 8 frame medium nucs out of 2 sheets of ply, here is a layout for 8 nucs: six 8 frame mediums, and two 5 frame mediums. Its also out of 2 sheets of ply, and cut down to 4x4. No significant improvement in packing by going to full 4x8 sheets and 4x4 seems to be more accessible for many hobbyists. It has the added benefit that 2 of the 4 sheets are identical which should make cutting even simpler. The sides are interchangeable between the 8 and 5 frames. The rest of the parts are prefaced with an 8fr or 5fr to differentiate them.

http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/v...MedNuc1of3.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/v...MedNuc2of3.jpg
http://i691.photobucket.com/albums/v...MedNuc3of3.jpg

Thank you for posting these. I built a set with two sheets of plywood and they turned out great.

One measurement was off - the sides should be 9 1/8" but they're marked 9 3/8", making them just a bit too wide to fit a standard frame.