Has anyone ever double stacked a nuc and held it over the winter? or wintered a single nuc?
i have wintered single and double nucs with no problem. ...schawee
I wintered some singe 8 framers last winter. Im planing on wintering some double deck six framers side by side this winter.
The way my singles wintered it looked like they sat on one side of box and they did not move over to honey on other side of box. I put a fondant on top and they moved up into that. I think they will do better if they can move up into honey then to the side.
Last Sept. I caught a very small swarm and over wintered it in a two-story five-frame medium nuc. Gave it an extra frame or two of brood and honey from another hive to help out. Not only did it survive the winter, it threw off a huge swarm in April and is still going gang busters.
Linda D
Double or triple stacked nucs are a popular way to overwinter small hives around here. Often these nucs are placed side by side touching an adjacent hive to conserve heat.
In a mild winter I can get 80% of stand alone stacked nucs through winter.
In a harsh and a long cold winter, I may lose 80%. I think the cluster is constricted by the narrow (cold) walls and this effects clustering and other dynamics of the hive.
I have found that if I take the frames of a 5 over 5 nuc, and place them in a 10 frame deep, I can overwinter them at a better rate. The wider box allows the cluster to sit differently, and by the use of standard equipment it allows me more feeding options, etc. I overwinter single 10 frame deeps at a better rate than the same number of frames in a 5 over 5 nuc box arrangement. Placing fondant above the inner cover allows enough feed to be placed without feeding multiple times through the year.
I've successfully over wintered double stacked medium nucs a number of times.
I've found it easier to over winter in double stack medium nucs rather than double stack deep nucs for the reasons BjornBee relates.
Quote from: Brian D. Bray on June 07, 2011, 06:13:03 PM
I've successfully over wintered double stacked medium nucs a number of times.
I've found it easier to over winter in double stack medium nucs rather than double stack deep nucs for the reasons BjornBee relates.
Here in the South, the winters are not so harsh as we get maybe to 10 degrees 3 times during the winter months. If it gets cold it usually warms up over 32 later in the day.