[northernpike]

what would the benefits be to starting a package in a stackable 5 frame nuc v.s. a 10 frame deep lang? the spring flow is just starting but my main goal for this year is to not have to buy bees for next. Could i just get this package going in the nuc and keep splitting it as they build?

 

[Beeonefarms]

Is it going to get strong enough to split no matter where you place them?.. Will the splits get big enough to over winter?

 

[drlonzo]

what would the benefits be to starting a package in a stackable 5 frame nuc v.s. a 10 frame deep lang? the spring flow is just starting but my main goal for this year is to not have to buy bees for next. Could i just get this package going in the nuc and keep splitting it as they build?

I've seen many people that have started their packages in a 5 frame NUC. If you do so, it helps them keep the heat in so that they can draw comb faster. They will build up pretty quickly as well since it acts more like a tree cavity than say an 8 or 10 frame hive. If you plan to split them, just remember that they need to cover all the frames with bees during the day while the foragers are out. This gives you the right number of bees in your split to manage it good. Check out The Fat Beeman on youtube. All he runs is 5 frame NUC's for the most part.

 

[Chemguy]

The benefit is that you would have more colonies and be able to hedge against winter losses and disease. That is always a good idea.

The only thing I can think of that could make this a risky prospect is that by the end of the year (going into winter) you might have a series of colonies that are all light on stores and bees. You might want to determine ahead of time if some of the splits would be made during a dearth and plan to feed protein and syrup as a hedge against a poor flow.

Me, I would let the first colony build up to a double deep first, then time a split or two later in mid summer, so that new queens will be laying and foragers bringing in stores during the Fall flow. Go into winter with as many bees in each hive as possible. My rookie notion is to allow for at least three full brood cycles (about 2-3 months) before winter arrives.

 

[camero7]

I start all my packages in nucs. Works pretty well for me. I often pull a frame of brood from a couple of them and start a new nuc with a mated queen.

 

[JWChesnut]

I start bees in stacking 5 frame boxes all the time, including medium depth nucs. When the colony is established, the 2x5 frames graduate to a 10 frame box. A week or so after the stack is returned to one (bigger) box they are ready for supering. The colonies really take off under this management.

The query you made, "if a recently hived package should be resplit on June 1" is separate question. This is only going to answered with local experience. A "walk-away" style split is going to be about 45 days (or July 15) from its very first cohort of bees from the new queen. A requeened split shortens the period to late-June.

Many areas (including mine) experience a mid-summer dearth, and wax and brood production drops to marginal levels. If you are splitting into the dearth, the hives will be set back strongly, and you end up with little colonies that never, ever take off.

If you are trying to manage these little nuc sized colonies in the same apiary (or foraging territory) as production stacks, you will end up with massive robbing issues during the summer and fall dearth periods.

A new beekeeper should not try everything at once. One cannot learn if one is fiddling with all the variables. One should learn what the local period of surplus and dearth consists of. You do this by watching the behavior of undisturbed colonies carefully. Armed with that knowledge, one can plan one's increase for the subsequent season to build into the period of abundance.

Splitting into peak flow makes everything easy --- queens seemingly appear out of thin air. Trying to get wax drawn and brood laid during dearth requires epic efforts, some of which precipitate robbing.