I thought a new thread might be appropriate - 'cause this is a topic I'd really like to examine in some detail.
But firstly - thanks to Pete for offering to talk me though his system - am looking forward to that. The sort of experimentation I'm doing is all very well (after all, that's how things sometimes change), but knowledge of a tried and tested system is invaluable.
I agree with you 100%, and that is exactly the route I've been taking thus far with my so-called 'six-and-a-half' frame nuc boxes, which can be run in either 2x3 or 1x6 frame modes - for a minimum of 3 frames feels intuitively 'right'.
The reason I'm currently opting for 2-frames for the over-wintering of queens is as a compromise: a) it has to be better than banking queens in cages, and b) how best to pack such nucs into a National box ?
This is what I've come up with so far:
Not shown are 4 access holes drilled into each side of the box, with 3 additional holes in the front which are sealed-off until the box is re-located from the various mating areas onto the insulated chest base for the winter, when access is then gained only from the front.
I'm planning on 8 such boxes per chest (or 'hot-box'), but that's only because I've got some old fibreglass encapsulated farrowing heater plates, the size of which lend themselves to 2 rows of 4. I have 2 such heaters, which would then produce 64 banked queens in total (assuming no losses). Hardly an earth-shattering amount - but it's a start.
The idea isn't totally mine - I got the basic idea from:
http://mbbeekeeping.com/wintering-2-...s-in-manitoba/
although I'm well aware that Manitoba has a far harsher climate than anything I'm liable to experience.
I can foresee lifting the chest lid off and making a quick visual check of each frame feeder (which will have a perspex cover), and replacing the lid in less than a minute or so, assuming that nothing needs topping-up. Very manageable.
Well - that's as far as I've got with this idea. I plan to start building the woodwork over the winter, to be ready for next season - well, that's unless I spot a serious snafu, or someone comes up with a better idea, of course.
Comments, criticisms etc - would be very much appreciated.
LJ
Bookmarks