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  • From: Marty Hanks <marty AT justbeenc.com>
  • To: Orange County Bees <ocba AT lists.ibiblio.org>, NaturalBeesinNC AT yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: [ocba] important info on NEW plastic nuc divider "maker"
  • Date: Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:30:30 -0400

hello everyone,
 
I wanted to offer up some important info on the NEW nuc makers-plastic divider.
 
First we had a super busy weekend w/ the bee packages and splits and I would like to thanks Annallys, Leslie & John for coming out to pitch in and help out!
 
It was an eventful friday the 13th for sure, but the most important thing was my experience w/ these new dividers....seen here from Brushy....
http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/Plastic-Hive-Divider-or-Nuc-Maker/productinfo/460/
 
They allow you to use 1 10 or 8 frame deep and divide in half to create 2 nucs. I had added several packages to some of the splits i did to keep the population up so i had to make a new home for the extra queens. So here is where the fun began.
 
1.) the insert does not fit correctly...its a tad to tall and the lid will not fit down flat. so i finally thought to trim the bottoms so it would slide down and be flush w/ the frames as it was not tall enough to add a spacer along the top...that would create to much space above anyway.
2.) then there was all the room above (like normal) for the bees to go back and forth...the idea is to have 2 separate queens-colonies. So we  had some 1/4" foam insulation that i used to close up this upper space. I think that is ok for now...they can still get around the sides and bottom so all is well. they are on an IPM screen board so there is air
3.) the divider does not extend out onto the landing board so i trimmed the 2 boardman feeders to slide in another 1/2" into the hive. i installed them both together in the center just on either side of the divider so they aer 3/16" apart. Now this seals everyone up and keeps them separate and w/ the 2 feeders in the center it separates the entrances. I then added the flat 3/16" wooden top that came w/ my feeder in between the feeders...this provided a vertical divider for the nucs.
 
ALL is well and everyone is fine....for now, The main issue i had was in that on 2 of them the bees moved over to one side more than the other...kind of like Sallys girls and the other post about the queens this year. so w/ the 1/4" insulation on top they can not move back and forth.
 
So i hope this helps anyone wanting to ttry this...just get prepared before you get your bees or splits.
 
cheers,
 
Marty Hanks
Just Bee, Apiaries
 
 


  • [ocba] important info on NEW plastic nuc divider "maker", Marty Hanks, 04/16/2012

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