# OTS queens and medium frames?



## Meghues (Jan 5, 2016)

If you make the first OTS split with 2 deep frames of stores and the queen on her frame and an empty comb or 2, what do you use if your equipment is mediums?
Megan Hughes


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## Eikel (Mar 12, 2014)

If I understand the question correctly, your concern is you only use medium frames/boxes, are doing a five frame split and most nucs are deeps. For an immediate and short term, you can always simply place them in a deep nuc or in a normal medium box. Wait too long on med frames in a deep space and you'll need to deal with they comb they build off the bottom of the frames. For me, the longer term would be using a normal medium with a dummy board to match the population and space or invest in building medium nucs, particularly if you intend to keep a few nucs around. 


I find the plywood nucs OK if you're only going to use them as stand alone 5 frame hives. I have a few around but find they have issues if you try to add boxes on top, aka gong to 5 x 5 nuc. I make most of my equipment so I'm not sure if/where you can buy med nuc woodware but I'm a firm believer in standardizing your equipment wherever possible and being able to add a second box has distinct advantages in maintaining nucs and a key to sustainability.


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

I would use the same formula, box size to frame size being relative. I would add a frame of emerging brood to that list.

Good Luck,,
Alex


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Eight medium frames = five deep frames.


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## Meghues (Jan 5, 2016)

Michael Bush said:


> Eight medium frames = five deep frames.


This is the answer I might have been looking for. I’m thinking a split of 3-5 medium frames wouldn’t be big enough? So I go for 8? Or would 5 work but I’d really have to watch them to keep them from getting crowded. ? I have plenty of equipment either way, but my deeps haven’t built up much. I’m still using both, trying to decide what I like.


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## beemantn (Jan 4, 2019)

I use OTS & run all mediums. I simply use a 5 frame nuc box with 2 frames of stores, queen on her frame, 2 frames drawn comb & shake bees off 1 other frame into nuc box. In TN it works fine for me.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

Personally, I like to have 16 medium frames of bees and brood and honey in a split, which means the colony should be at least four eight frame boxes of bees before I split. A strong split builds up quickly. A weak split often struggles for a while.


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## billdean (Mar 5, 2016)

Michael Bush said:


> Personally, I like to have 16 medium frames of bees and brood and honey in a split, which means the colony should be at least four eight frame boxes of bees before I split. A strong split builds up quickly. A weak split often struggles for a while.


Michael…………how would you arraign a 16 frame split or does it matter? Honey to the outside and brood/eggs toward the middle in both boxes with 2 or 3 frames of open comb?


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I'm doing them in eight frame boxes and only when I have four boxes of bees and brood. I split by the box. I put down two bottom boards, and "deal" the boxes while looking on the bottom for queen cells. If there are none or if there are capped but not emerged queen cells, I just divide them up. If there are emerged swarm cells on the bottom, I steal a frame of brood from somewhere. They are arranged as they were in the original hive since I don't even pull out a frame unless I'm putting in a frame of open brood for them to be able to raise a queen. I don't search for the queen. If I am moving any frames I try to have the brood in the same order as they started. Brood together in the middle in one box. Honey in the other box. Two empty supers on top of two occupied boxes in the outyards because I might not be back for a while. One empty super in the home yard where I'll probably be back out in the yard next weekend.


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