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I have seen a few articles about overwintered nucs making the best beehives come spring. I'm hoping to do some this fall and would like to avoid the learning curve by hearing from others who have already done them in the fall. I just had the privilege of helping a new-beek pickup and install her bees. My focus in beekeeping has always been to educate the general public, but now I want to start producing local top bar nucs for the individuals that decide to keep bees. (It was a less than stellar experience with the beekeeper where she got her bees from. I got mine from him last year, but he doesn't like TBH's and doesn't make good nucs for them)
So, what is the general timeframe for making the fall nucs? Sept 1? And what would you consider the minimum amount of bars needed to overwinter in a mild climate like the eastern part of VA or NC? My bees last year were flying quite a bit during the winter and barely consumed the 6 bars of syrup that they capped during the fall feeding. We have some fields of cotton in the area in the fall, as well as other ornamentals like camellias and mahonia for pollen.
So, what is the general timeframe for making the fall nucs? Sept 1? And what would you consider the minimum amount of bars needed to overwinter in a mild climate like the eastern part of VA or NC? My bees last year were flying quite a bit during the winter and barely consumed the 6 bars of syrup that they capped during the fall feeding. We have some fields of cotton in the area in the fall, as well as other ornamentals like camellias and mahonia for pollen.
