[lamarcarama]

I've got 15+ frames of drawn comb (some with honey) left over from my poor hive wasn't able to overwinter. The comb has been carefully stored and frozen to kill anything bad.

I'm picking up a 5-frame NUC this weekend and I'm wondering if I can install it into a hive with 2 10-frame deep boxes. My thinking was to place honey frames on the sides, the NUC in the center of the top box and put 5 or 6 empty drawn frames under the NUC in the bottom box. Would give the queen lots of room to breed down when she felt like it and I wouldn't have to watch too closely for swarming during our spring boom vs a single box install.

Any feeback? Is this a dumb idea? I'm just trying to make the most of my existing comb and give the NUC the best chance to succeed.

Thanks!

-Tony

 

[JWPalmer]

20 frames is a lot of real estate for 4 frames of bees to cover and defend. I would put them in a a single deep for now and add the second deep when the bees are covering 8 frames, probably in about a month. I would also only place two of the honey containing frames in the hive for now. Add the rest when you have more bees in the hive. JM2C.

 

[lamarcarama]

Thanks for the insight. I was thinking about expansion and thermal issues. I didn't consider that the hive would feel compelled to defend the whole space. Good thought... Thanks again.

 

[Vance G]

The colony simply would not be able to defend the space and that creates a ton of problems! The single deep with a two bee wide entrance and no other silly VENTILATION or screened brood chillers will be about as much as that small nuc can handle. Small tight areas help the bees cover more brood and grow faster.