over winter small hive

[yolanda huang]

I have a small hive.  Do folks think it would be better to move them into a NUC (or a double NUC),

or use the plastic sheeting method Randy Oliver suggested of a plastic sheet drapped over 5 frames inside a regular size hive?

Yolanda

[Robin Chatham]

Experiment and keep us posted.

Robin Chatham

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[Jim Veitch]

I think Randy's advice about right sizing space for the bees is good so I would definitely consider moving them into a nuc box. How many frames of bees are they?  If they are only 1-2 I would also suggest adding bees from one of your other hives to give them a boost into being larger going into the winter.  There is still plenty of time for them to outgrow a nuc box.  Shake a couple of frames of bees into a plastic tub, wait a couple of minutes for the flying bees to leave, make sure the queen isn't in there and then pour them into the small hive.  Some of them will still go back to the main hive but some of them will stay.

I also like the idea of overwintering some of smaller hives in double nucs but I am worried about possible toppling over so I have to think about it.

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[Mimi]

I’ve tried Palmer Double Nuc method https://www.dadant.com/catalog/support-hive-m60035?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21902502660&gbraid=0AAAAAD_fvMzqbCRC4WiwD_wbRnRUG_6RK

And they seem to do great overwintering side by side.  The problem that I encountered was that I wasn’t ready for early spring fast expansion and they swarmed on me.  

Single nuc in my location does great with protective cover (for heat in winter and AC in hot summer).  

Sent from my iPhone

On Sep 4, 2025, at 4:47 PM, Jim Veitch <jvei...@gmail.com> wrote:



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[Joan Houston]

Double nucs work great. One of the many things Hal taught me. Here’s one from the farm.