Deep Nuc installed in all medium frames

[kamie]

I have read the previous posts, just wanted to get some expert opinions on my plan.  I have all 8 frame medium boxes, just starting out.  The person I am ordering the nuc's from is only doing deeps this year.  Rather than order two deep boxes with 6 additional frames, I though that I could try the following.


8 frame medium ->| |||||||| |   <- Place 5 deep frames here
3 inch spacer          |   |||||   |
8 frame medium ->| |||||||| |

Once the bees have filled the empty medium on the bottom and I am sure the queen is in the lower box and  not in the top box, I would add another 8 frame medium and a queen excluder and move the medium with the spacer up until all brood has hatched, then rotate the deep frames out.  I realize that the bees will fill the empty space below the medium frames, I could just rubber band that into a frame when i move things around.

Thoughts?

Too much work to save $60?

Thanks

--kamie

[cao]

Welcome to the forum.  I think your plan will work.  The only thing that I will say is to be patient.  One thing I have learned about bees is that they work at their pace, not yours.  Sometimes it is slower than you want, sometimes it's faster.  Have fun.

[HillBilly2]

It would work better to put the empty medium on top. They want to build upwards.

[little john]

I agree - put the 3" eke at the bottom, the Nuc on top of that, and your new box at the top of the stack.

With regard to the drawing of natural comb beneath any 'shallow' frames - either accept that it will happen, slice it off later and use for starter strips (if you're thinking of going foundationless) or make-up a cardboard box to roughly fit the empty space, and cover with plastic and/or tape, to prevent that comb from being drawn. It doesn't need to be perfect, just good enough to fill enough space so that the bees will have to expand into the upper box. 

Saving $60 sounds good to me !

LJ

[KeyLargoBees]

Personally...when you factor in the time and effort of rigging something up and then the time spent managing it both physically and mentally...I would spend the $60 and sell the boxes/frames after if you don't need them and recoup at least some of your losses. I am all for DIY but in some cases the cost benefit ratio doesnt make sense :-)

[kamie]

Thanks everyone.  From what I have read, the bees build up because we start at the bottom, not sure they really care one way or another.  I am prepared to deal with their desire to fill all available space, that isn't really a problem.  The nice thing about putting the medium at the bottom is being able to have that setup before I bring the nuc home.  That way I can just move the deep frames into the second box with the spacer nice and easy.  I plan to practice the transfer first without bees.
As for the 3 inch spacers, once I rotate out the deep frames, I plan to turn them into moisture quilts for next winter, assuming both hives survive so i would be building something similar anyway.  I built similar ventilation frames for a friend this past summer.  Nothing fancy, just nailed together standard lumber.

[HillBilly2]

They will try to fill all available space, as long as its above them. You know, this will probably happen again, so think about buying a couple of 5 frame medium nucs instead. Stack them on the deep, when they all move up transfer to regular mediums. You will need them eventually to make splits.

[Colobee]

I agree with Hillbilly & Littlejohn. Put the spacer on the bottom. Once the bees have moved up & out of the lower, the spacer can also be used as a feeder spacer or "shim". Maybe make two, while you're at it? I just cut up another dozen shims from old supers - they come in handy for more than one thing, and don't take up a lot of storage space.

If you could find medium nucs, that would solve everything, but they don't seem to be as popular as deeps, yet...

Good luck!

[Acebird]

Kamie there are all kinds of ways to skin a cat but if I have to deal with this (I am all mediums) I will put the three inch shim on the bottom and buy 3 more deep frames to fill up the 8 frame box.  Add medium boxes like you normally would.  The only tricky part is to get the bees into the first medium box which you can do by pulling up one deep frame for a time until they start on an adjacent medium frame and then lower it back down.  If you want, you can plug the space at the bottom of the deep frame or just waste what they build to get the frame back down.  As soon as I could get the queen to go up and lay in the medium boxes I would put an excluder on top of the deep frames so she can't get back down there.  Then you can pull them out when there is no brood.  Save the set up if you ever have to do it again.

[kamie]

I will have to adjust the plan as I go.  I just found out , that I may have to be gone for a week fairly soon after the nucs arrive.  I have a friend to watch the hives but I don't want them to have a lot of management other than feeding while I am gone.