Do a large hive and a 5 frame nuc reduce down their populations to the same size for over wintering?
I have heard that 30 lbs of honey is needed for winter in middle Georgia.
Just how much of a nuc needs to be honey stores?
Last year I wintered two nucs in NC with one medium over one deep each. It was a mild winter, and bees were somewhat active until January. January and February were pretty inactive. By March, they were flying and hit the maples pretty hard.
I did feed them in September/October, so there was some honey in the brood box as well.
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First I would like to say that overwintering in 5 frame nucs you can expect to lose 30% of them. If you add a second 5 frame box on top you can expect to lose only 8 to10% or less.
I would want not less than 3 frames solid food with the other 2 frames 50% or more. Each frame will give 6 to 7 pounds of food. If you are in an area with a poor fall nectar flow I would feed in October until they quit taking the syrup. You want brood in August, September, and the first of half of October but you don't want to have to feed after October. Feeding nucs 1:1 syrup a quart at a time, then inspecting to see the brood area remaining, will allow you to slowly reduce the space for the queen to lay without becoming completely honey bound too soon.
I have 6 nucs in 5 over 5 configuration now, the top 5 frames are full of food stores with the brood all below, and mite treatments are in. Set them up for winter now and you don't get rushed putting them to bed for the winter in October.
Hi Bob
On a north- south basis we live at about the equivalent of Nashville. But winter our bees at about the same as Atlanta,
We don't have any issues with wintering 5 frame nucs so long as the are strong and full in late Autumn.
We let them build up from late Summer as they won't swarm in late Autumn.