After the nuc frames are in the new hive

So I get how you simply transfer the nuc frames to the flow hive. And from other posts it looks like we should put them in the middle of the flow hive. Now how do we get rid of the traditional frames from the nuc so we only have the flow frames? Thanks!

Great Question, Looking forward to the responce :grinning:

You will always have traditional frames in the brood box. I guess you have 3 choices with those frames. #1 Wax foundation, #2 Plastic foundation, #3 Starter strips. You’ll need to ask around & do some research so you can decide which method you want to adopt.

I think the question may have been misunderstood due to the response :slight_smile: let’s try asking the question again, a different way

My assumption when receiving my NUC, it will have some sort of foundation frames in it, either plastic or wax. I am wanting to go 100% foundation less in my brood boxs. So when I receive my NUC I will place those frames in the middle which will have foundation on them. Ultimately how do I remove those frames out of the hive body, without disrupting the bees entirely. Is it several weeks, do I look for something particularly, do I after 2 months take one frame out at a time and how much time do I give between pulling each frame out and not replacing it with the frame that has foundation on it.

Short and simple how do I remove in existing frame out of the middle of the hive and not replace it, do I slide the other frames tighter together and put a new frame in on one side

Once your brood box frames are drawn the bees will fill them with brood and stores.
The outer frames are usually stores as the brood shape is oval or round, depending on the shape of your box. You don’t take a frame from the middle, you take one at the edge of the brood nest and swap it with the frame to the outside of it, gradually moving it to brood box wall. When it is there you can take it out and replace with your new frame. It takes some weeks.
Have a look at your nuc, if the outside frames are stores already then you can put your new frame to be drawn between the store frame and the brood but make sure they have enough income to draw those frames.
I presume you will be using more than one brood box. In which case it is even easier as you will be reducing the brood boxes for winter. Just make sure that you take the one with the old frames away.

Wow, this actually makes a lot of sense once you hear it but why I could not think through it I don’t know :slight_smile: so let me repeat back and let me see if I get it.

Being new to all this and not wanting to squish any bees moving the NUC frames into their new home. I will remove all of my foundation less frames out of the box 1st. I will place the NUC frames in their new home and doing so I will pay close attention to which frames have the brood in them versus stored pollen or honey. After transferring them and paying attention to the above when adding the new foundation less frames back, I will put most of the foundation less frames on the side of the box that has the brood. And less new frames on the stored honey and pollen side.

Allow a month or so to go by for them to build out the new foundation less frames. One by one over the next several weeks I would remove the frame closest to the pollen/stored honey side and shift all the frames over toward that direction. Placing a new frame on the far other side/brood side. I know were only talking 8 frames and it’s not like it’s on the other side of the world but I could see this easily taking 6 or 8 weeks depending on how large my NUC is

Is this relatively correct?

This is exactly what I am, asking now… today. Just getting home with my new girls.

Post pictures :slight_smile: I want to see

Except you can put the nuc frames in the middle and move frames out each side

I’m new to this as well and my thoughts are that for the first year of having your bees it’s most important that they are thriving and growing to the point they are able to survive the first winter. I also would like to eventually have all foundations moved out but that’s a task for the second year for me

Hi all,

I see a lot of great help n answers on here for all the new beeks (like me returning after 55 years away). We only got shaken packaged bees back then. I’d never heard of NUC’s before.

Now Nuc’s are better than packages by far as far as I am concerned. Packages are cheaper but the Nuc’s put you ahead nearly a month or so in hive development. I have read a lot of great books on beginning beekeeping but I am more of a visual learning !!! The many You-Tube vids took away any mystery of adding Nuc’s of comb n bees to a 8 or more frame hive. If you are like me ( a visual learner only) give a vid or two a try !! Good luck n happy beekeeping … Gerald

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Ermm, sort of… :wink: You are moving a frame from the middle of the hive out to the edge. So if you number your frames 1 to 8 from left to right, you might choose 4 and move it to the position of 3, move 3 to 2, 2 to 1 and take the old 1 out (or if number 1 is a new foundation-less frame with freshly pulled comb with space for the queen to lay, you could put it back in position 4). I don’t like to have 2 new frames in the middle of the brood box, so if I was moving frame 4 to the left of the box, I would NOT move frame 5 to the right edge of the box at the same time. Either just do the frame number 4 shuffle, or if you feel compelled to do 2 at once, move frame 6 to position 7, 7 to 8 etc. Just remember, the more you shuffle the brood box, the more you set back your bees.

There are lots of ways to do this, so I am sure others will have more ideas. Just pick what sounds easy to you, go slowly, and give your bees time to adjust.

Dawn

Yes, this is what i understood from Dee, It maybe several weeks between moving and removing a frame because how slow it need to go. Thank you. My goal ti to remove all foundation frames out of my hive and only have foundationless frames.

Visually pix of a 8 frame with Nuc frames seen already in hive with gobs of bees. This one the beekeeper uses a internal frame hive feeder. I wil use a 10 frame Lang box with top feeder but that is my choice.

I hate frame feeders. The only time I used one I got a lot of drowned bees. I think they all piled in so fast. I like rapid feeders on top.

Feeders: yah … I am with you on that Dee. We used those when I was a kid. Really a PAIN in the B— ! But now that I am old n wiser I am going to use Top Feeders only !

Hi Marty, if the frames that are supplied with the nuc have a large% of worker comb & are in good nic, I’d leave them there until you want to do a split or open the brood up to prevent swarming. That will happen soon enough.

Basically, why remove frames that are producing a good # of workers for you?

Once your hive is closed up, your the only one that will know that not all of the frames in the brood are foundationless. Which is not really all that much of a big deal.

What I was trying to explain to Marty was how to work frames out. He would be taking out ONLY frames with stores on, not with brood. I agree …brood is your most important asset.

While we’re talking of adding frames…
The only time I would split the brood with an empty frame here in the UK is when I want lots of winter bees…September/October. Popping an empty frame right in the middle usually works a treat, the bees draw it in a few days and the queen lays it up straight away.
(checker boarding doesn’t work here, we have the weather against us most of the time)

Checkerboarding would probably work over there during the peak swarming period to try to suppress the bees urge to swarm. It’s easy for me to say, living in a sub-tropical climate.

Checkerboarding for me has extended to 5 frames now, where it used to be 4… I can’t see why 3 frames wouldn’t work during swarm season in a colder climate. That would remove the need for weekly brood inspections during swarm season plus you get the advantage of the extra colonies your building up.

For some reason splitting the brood in the swarming season makes the bees think they are queen-less and they make queen cells. Once swarming is over they just draw the frame and make more bees. What does work is weakening a colony by continually removing brood, but then you don’t get the workforce to gather your crop.