Nuc made....now what?

2085 Views 9 Replies 8 Participants Last post by David LaFerney, Jul 16, 2014

beekeeper79

Discussion Starter · Jul 12, 2014

I decided to make a Nuc from my carniolan hive today (about 4:30pm) so they can raise a new queen and to break the mite cycle.

I pulled 5 deep frames from the hive:
1 - 80% capped honey
3 - well covered capped brood frames
1 - 30% honey, some drone comb and a 60% pollen stores.

I found the queen on a frame of mainly eggs and small larvae so I brought it over and gently brushed her into the Nuc and put the frame of eggs back in the original hive. I replaced the frames with foundationless wire frames and checkerboarded them in the hive. Questions:

1. I sealed the Nuc and moved it down to its new location. I was planning on leaving it sealed overnight and then putting a branch in front of the opening (with an entrance reducer on it) in the morning. I assume that's what most people do?

2. Should I feed either the hive or the Nuc? Why/Why Not?

3. How long should I wait before adding another set of frames to the Nuc?

Fingers crossed

-bk79

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UTvolshype

· #2 · Jul 12, 2014

Questions:

1. I sealed the Nuc and moved it down to its new location. I was planning on leaving it sealed overnight and then putting a branch in front of the opening (with an entrance reducer on it) in the morning. I assume that's what most people do?

THAT WILL WORK OR LET THE FIELD BEES GO BACK TO ORIGINAL HIVE.

2. Should I feed either the hive or the Nuc? Why/Why Not?

YOU WILL HAVE TO FEED HVY TO GET CARNI HIVES TO PRODUCE WAX THIS TIME OF YEAR, SO FEED BOTH THE NUC AND THE OLD HIVE. I TRIED TO GET CARNIs TO PRODUCE WAX LAST YEAR, THEY DIDN'T TILL GOLDENROD STARTED TO BLOOM IN SEPT. ITALLIANS WILL, CARNI BEES WON'T.

3. How long should I wait before adding another set of frames to the Nuc?

WAIT TILL THE NEW BROOD CYCLE START TO POPULATE THE NUC, TWO WEEKS TO ONE MONTH SHOULD WORK.

Fingers crossed

-bk79[/QUOTE]

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waynesgarden

· #3 · Jul 12, 2014

I would unseal the nuc right now, especially if there is no ventilation and it is hot there. (It is plenty hot here in northeast PA right now.)

You will have mostly nurse bees that will remain with the brood. You might lose some foragers but it is far better to lose them and not lose the hive through overheating.

I would feed the nuc some syrup for a while, though I am unfamiliar with the nectar flows in your area.

Do you have a 4 or 5 frame super to add? Since most of your 5 frames are full already, I would put a super on now so your queen has room to lay and any foragers have room to store nectar or syrup.

Wayne

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Tenbears

· #4 · Jul 12, 2014

I am with Wayne on this one. open the hive up. you did not state how far the new location was from the old. I am an old timer and died in the wool, I believe it is best to move splits 2 miles or more away from the parent hive, it provides a better variety of bee ages to the split. since you placed all full or nearly so frames in the nuc. you may as well put a second on. to allow room to grow. and feed all they will take this will fool them into thinking there is a flow on and they will draw comb in the second utvolshype is correct carnis are not as quick to draw comb as Italians. and you really have to poor the feed to um. but they will draw comb if fed.

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pndwind

· #5 · Jul 13, 2014

Tenbears said:
since you placed all full or nearly so frames in the nuc. you may as well put a second on. to allow room to grow.

If a frame of foundation were substituted adding a super could be postponed temporarily?

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beekeeper79

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jul 13, 2014

They seem crowded...

after opening it up this morning 20 or so bees flew out and all seemed fine. Now I have two basball size clusters at the entrance and the inner cover hole. I have an entrance reducer on with a 1/2" hole...should I remove the reducer?

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Intheswamp

· #7 · Jul 14, 2014

I think I would remove the reducer or at least open it to a couple inches so the bees have a fair-sized opening to fan/ventilate through...probably open it all the way and watch for possible robbing issues. It was 95F down here in south Alabama this afternoon and I figure it was pretty warm in your area.

Ed

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Grasshopper

· #8 · Jul 15, 2014

About 12 days ago, I made a split very similar to yours except I only gave them three frames. Two of capped brood and one of nectar/pollen. I put a frame feeder in to take up the other 2 frame spaces. The main difference in mine was I gave them two ripe swarm cells that were due to hatch the next day. I checked them today and they had filled every available cell with syrup and nectar. I found the new queen and what looked like a very small patch of cells with royal jelly in the bottom of them. I added another 5 frame deep with foundation. I was pleased to see they had even drawn comb from the bottom of the frame feeder. Most of the two frames of brood are hatched now and there are a bunch of bees in it. As tenbears suggested, I put some more feed on them in hopes that all those new nurse bees REALLY want to draw wax. I'll check again in about a week and see how they've progressed. If you placed a laying queen in a split like that, you'll need to give them room soon.

GH

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beekeeper79

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jul 16, 2014

What is the best way to feed a nuc? Boardman? or inverted jar/chick waterer over frames with Nuc box around it?

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David LaFerney

· #10 · Jul 16, 2014

Neither. A boardman will set off robbing - very bad for a nuc. And The second choice is likely to result in wild comb being built in the empty space.

An inverted jar over the hole in an inner cover would be fine if you need to feed.

This time of year I put a robber screen on any hive that I feed.

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