When to stop feeding Nucs...

[Jan Mc]

Newbie w/another question - been 5 weeks since installed Nucs.  Have plenty of pollen, brood, honey stores - lots of flow in NW GA - think it's time to stop feeding.  Should I stop cold turkey or feed them a few days/week? Thoughts?

[Dallasbeek]

Are they still taking the syrup?  Usually, when nectar becomes availabe, they stop feeding on syrup.

[mikecva]

I stop feeding when they stop taking the syrup or I put a honey super on. As Dallasbeek said they usually stop feeding when there is nectar available unless your nuc came with only nurse bees, but by now you should have bees of all ages.  -Mike
 

[OldMech]

I have bees that will take syrup until they abscond because they have filled the brood nest.  As Michael Palmer says,, like a room full of teenage boys at a buffet.. they will at EVERYTHING.......
   The secret to these bees is fewer holes in the jar lids I use to feed with.  They still get the syrup, just not as fast, so they use more of it instead of storing it.

   First question.. are they drawing comb?
   Second question, how much are they storing?

   If you feed a gallon and they pack it all into the cells and then some, stop feeding for a time.  Keep an eye on what they have stored. Dont let them back fill the brood nest.
   Explination in order here...  someone is going to say I'm an idiot, I just need to add another box...
      If they have five frames drawn, two frames started and three frames empty, its not time to add another box yet, but they can STILL have everything they have drawn packed with syrup and nectar, leaving no place for the queen to lay..
   So...  keep an eye on what they are up to.   Kinda like keeping an eye on teenage boys if you have a teenage daughter. 

[iddee]

A nuc??  FEED IT!
If it's a hive, that's different. I would feed it until they quit taking it, or the second box was 2/3 or more drawn out.

[Jan Mc]

Thanks for your input!  Yes, they are still taking the syrup, and building comb, etc.  As Old Mech suggested, I Did change out the lids on the sugar water jars a month ago to lids with only 6 holes.  It doesn't look like they are filling the brood chambers w/syrup so will keep watching and feeding for now : )

[mtnb]

When exactly does a nuc become a hive? I mean, once you put your nuc into an 8 frame hive body, for example, at what point would it be considered a hive or a colony?

[OldMech]

WHEN you put it into an 8 or ten frame box I count it as a hive..   Nucs are for selling, maintaining an extra queen, or managing AS a nuc..  I have what i consider "nucs" in three tall 5 frame boxes, and that is where I keep them until fall, they get cut back to two boxes and prepped for winter.  my Nucs make my extra comb and provide the resources to boost my production hives, replace queens etc..  so they will always be nucs, when they go into a box that is "wider" than 5 frame I consider them hives...
   That is just my Definition.. some think of an 8 frame as a nuc, some think of three or four frame boxes as nucs...

[Eric Bosworth]

Oldmech interesting simply because I didn't want to rip anything I made 6 narrow frame nucs. I took Michael Bush's advice and made 1.25" frames. Then I needed nuc boxes and made them out of a 1x10. Then I realized they were either to wide or to narrow so I played around and realized that 4 narrow frames and 2 standard frames fit perfectly.  I am going to try Michael Palmer's over winter nuc this winter and see how well I do.

[OldMech]

   I have not convinced myself to try the one and a quarter wide frames yet, but have set up most supers with 9 frames instead of ten..   I really like the idea of getting another frame into the brood area on each box, just have not gotten there..   

  I wintered two of the Michael Palmer style nucs last winter, meaning 4 nucs, on double bottom boards for two wrapped hives through winter. They both survived.  But, I dont like pulling a nuc and leaving half the bottom board sticking out there, and they were not as "handy" for me.. Mr. Palmer has a LOT of nucs, I try to keep between twenty and thirty. Having them all on individual bottoms makes it so much nicer, but I still wrap them in doubles for winter.

[MikeyN.C.]

Isn't the brood comb boxes supposed to have the bee space (3/8")

[Dallasbeek]

I'm sure Michael Bush will direct you to his site where he writes about this, soon as he becomes aware of your question.  Short answer is you are right.  Long answer is that 1 1/4-inch frame for brood does, in fact, give you 3/8-inch bee space.  Longer answer will have to come from Mr. Bush.