# Nuc Box



## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

Will this work for a Nuc Box ? Tecumseh ? 



http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk23/mikemcvey/?action=view&current=0116091829a.jpg


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Are you planning on a double nuc? Or a single and pulling the divider once thay have built up?


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## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

Yes on the double nuc, then I should be able to pull 4 frames out ( with the divider ) and move the bees to another deep box, and start feeding .

I need to build about 5 or 6 more. These should be good for small swarms too this spring...


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## Hambone (Mar 17, 2008)

Good ideas. I will be keeping up with the thoughts shared on this.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

I am about to finish just two of them. Seeing as how Dadant sells the waxed cardboard ones so cheap, I think I'll pause and go that route. I like woodwork all right , but time slips away. I have to get my blackberry patch ready to go, and set about pruning fruit trees and shrubs. Also, I have about a zillion plants I want to start from seed.


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## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

I also seen 1 that had 3 dividers for 8 frames, 2 frames per slot. I think one of the mods had a picture of it ( don't remember where I saw it )

2 frames per slot seems like a good way to start out 4 queens at one time. sort a like a mini nuc's, but with deep frames easy to transfer to the deep boxes.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

photo does not seem to want to download.

may I assume that texasbee's picture is a hive body with dividers??? 

if yes, then.....most time the boxes that use a lot of dividers are for queen production more so than nuc production. all boxes with slide in dividers need a oil cloth* cover over the top to prevent leakage between the individual spaces. that is... it prevent a queen from one chamber from wandering over to the next chamber.

*oil cloth is not so available anymore so I acquire plain canvas from a local fabric store and cut this a bit larger (in both dimensions) than the top dimensions of the box.


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

a short note to lilwillie...

a lot of times I use my very worst/oldest boxes to constuct nuc or queen rearing boxes in the fashion (I assume???) that texasbee has highlighted. these are only used for a short time period so it does make the old stuff perform one more time and then gets shuffled back into the barn for storage.


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

No its not going to work.

Dividing boxes like that does work, but you need more than cardboard as a divider. The bees will chew through the cardboard in a hurry. I had nuc boxes custom made for me this past season; they were double corrigated and the bees still chewed through it in a matter of weeks.

When I divide boxes like you have I use luan as a divider. The corrigated plastic I think would work, but I have not been able to find a cheap source of it.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

tecumseh...mine aren't old enough for that yet, but that's what I'll do when the time comes. Cutting down old brood boxes to make mediums comes to mind also. I try to be as frugal as I can. Just getting to my tablesaw is a task, on account of all the cutoffs and pieces I think I might use someday...LOL


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## wildbranch2007 (Dec 3, 2008)

another option is replace the divider with a feeder that is divided down the middle, must be an exact fit, openings for each side, and use old feed bags as the inner cover to keep the bees from leaking across. the feed bag lets you open one side or the other, I also have the bottom board with the openings on opposite sides. If you want to be able to use the feeder for other purposes i run a board down the middle of the bottom board right under the feeder now you can use the feeder for normal feeding.

mike


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## BULLSEYE BILL (Oct 2, 2002)

Texas Bee said:


> I also seen 1 that had 3 dividers for 8 frames, 2 frames per slot. I think one of the mods had a picture of it ( don't remember where I saw it )


You may be thinking of the Queen Castle that is sold by Brushy Mountain. It has four compartments with luan dividers and entrances on four sides to keep the bees from getting confused and going into the wrong chamber. It also has four separate boards for the cover so you can open each one separately.

If it's dividers you want for a regular box, they also sell a plastic divider that is four way adjustable. You can put what ever number in a box you want to divide. They are not very expensive and the bees can't destroy them. Using them you don't have to have slots for the divider.


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## LtlWilli (Mar 11, 2008)

Bullseye!!!.....Not one person in a 100 would have known that! Man, you do get around...I tip my hat to you.
____________________________________________
The side of a barn, in cowpatty country, Texas


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## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

BULLSEYE BILL said:


> You may be thinking of the Queen Castle that is sold by Brushy Mountain. It has four compartments with luan dividers and entrances on four sides to keep the bees from getting confused and going into the wrong chamber. It also has four separate boards for the cover so you can open each one separately.
> 
> If it's dividers you want for a regular box, they also sell a plastic divider that is four way adjustable. You can put what ever number in a box you want to divide. They are not very expensive and the bees can't destroy them. Using them you don't have to have slots for the divider.



That's the one Bill. I just could not place it. Thanks Here it is.

http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/prodinfo.asp?number=687


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

texasbee:
foil backed (both sides) foam board will work quite nicely. at least it will greatly outlast cardboard. hardboard might be another BETTER choice.

I would still recommend a cloth (canvas/oil cloth) covering over the top of box.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

quarter inch plywood or cheap paneling will work well.


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## xC0000005 (Nov 17, 2004)

Corroplast is pretty good as well. I love it for building nucs out of (Don't try full size hives - it just doesn't work).


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## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

Went to Home Depot ( Saturday ) to the scrap bin for some more lumber.

OK here's what I did the last 2 days, get'in ready.. for some of those Big Fat Yellow Bees...

All I need to do now is build about 7 more, 


http://s276.photobucket.com/albums/kk23/mikemcvey/?action=view&current=0118091525a.jpg


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## BEES4U (Oct 10, 2007)

*Nuc box*

Mine are made up with luan or 1/4" plywood. (Dipped in melted parrafin.)
No cleat stock is needed on the hive floor. It's one less thing to make and assemble.
Trim your heigth so the divider is flush with the top of the brood chamber.
I have used air conditioning aluminum tape with excellent reslts. (I have use oil cloth and light canvas.)
You might cosider a bottom entrance so that the bees can carry out trash/debris.
Be sure that your cover is tight to prevent problems with robbin.
Consider your feeding method too.
I made up some with crown board top feeders.
Good luck.
Ernie


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

Texas Bee said:


> Went to Home Depot ( Saturday ) to the scrap bin for some more lumber.
> 
> OK here's what I did the last 2 days, get'in ready.. for some of those Big Fat Yellow Bees...
> 
> ...


Nice work for two days: I like your extreme rainbarrels
That is the brown stuff you are feeding on your top bars?


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

"Just getting to my tablesaw is a task, on account of all the cutoffs and pieces I think I might use someday...LOL"

Yes, I have the same problem. Sometimes allowing someone else to clean the woodshop helps with this problem, as they arn't as attached to the scraps as you are.

I think Walter Kelly's sells a four way queen raising box also...the thing to remember is to get your entrances on different sides of the box.


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## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

bluegrass said:


> Nice work for two days: I like your extreme rainbarrels
> That is the brown stuff you are feeding on your top bars?


It's alpha 6 recipe , I added the Mega Bee.

And the rain barrels belong to the County.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

I really like the 10 frame boxes with dividers. I 
drill 1" holes on opposite ends for entrances.
Using luaun plywood I can still squeeze 5 frames
into each side.

And as Tec said........... I have heavy white canvas
that drapes over the two. Stapled to the divider to
keep bees and queens from spilling over.

I also screened the bottoms and screwed on a single
bottom board.


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## Ross (Apr 30, 2003)

http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/nuc/nuc1.jpg
http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/nuc/nuc2.jpg
http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/nuc/nuc3.jpg
http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/nuc/nuc4.jpg
http://www.myoldtools.com/Bees/nuc/nuc5.jpg


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## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

I didn't even think about that Ross . After I copied your bottom boards, 
( LOL ... :doh: ) I've built several, just a simple middle divide over the screen. That is a great Idea. And like sundance said you can still get 5 frames in their on both sides.

Their has been several great Ideas here in this post , we need to keep this one.


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## Texas Bee (Mar 21, 2008)

Sundance / Tecumseh / Ross / Great combination The bottom board / divider in the box / cloth on top . I know this isn't a new concept, but what I am saying is you can build all of this out of scrap lumber. I've been getting scrap 4' lumber at H. D. for $.50 a board. 1x2 / 1x4 / 1x6 / 1x8 ...
I can build a screened bottom board for about $ 3.00 / $4.00... The hardware cloth is running about $1.85 for 50' . Thats the brother-in-law deal.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

Texas Bee said:


> ...but what I am saying is you can build all of this out of scrap lumber.



For sure.......... I use old culled hive bodies, shaky for
everyday use, but just fine for Nuc's.

The really bad boxes get a bottom slapped on them and
they are used for harvesting apples.


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## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

I tried some doubles and prefer single nucs. Lighter to carry. No drifting problem when dividing in the same apiary as they already have their own spot. Good for bait hives. I make the bottom permanent and use a disk entrance for moving.


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## Sundance (Sep 9, 2004)

I like single too........... but the doubles are convenient
when pulling numbers alone.


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## justgojumpit (Apr 9, 2004)

I like the doubles better, because the cost per five frame section is less. It's just two less sides to make. Plus, there is a lot less time spent at the table saw, because doing the double configuration requires 8 fewer joints!

justgojumpit


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## bluegrass (Aug 30, 2006)

I don't like doubles because they get mixed in with my other boxes and all summer long when I need a box the first one I get my hands on has a divider in it...always:doh:


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