Feeding mini mating nucs

[Bush_84]

Just trying to get a few opinions. This last summer I gave mini mating Nucs a try. After much contemplation I attribute my issues to not enough bees and feeding issues. The feeding was my biggest issue as it lead to all sorts of other bugs invading the hive. Ants and these small beetles. This caused failures and absconding. Some of the mini mating Nucs I made myself with hive top feeders and others were the mann lake double poly mating Nucs. Both attracted bugs. I tried a jar and it leaked all over.

So that?s the background now onto what to do. My first thought is dry sugar. I?m not sure if that wouldn?t attract the other bugs quite as bad or not. I?m also not sure how well the bees would take to it. I know my bees have no issues in the winter with mountain camp dry sugar. My other thought is to try the inverted jars but would like to find out what I did wrong or do they all leak to some degree. I poke three holes in the lid using the tip of a thumb tack. My hive top feeders will unfortunately only work if the hive is very strong and I will still have to find a way to seal them better. Duct tape works to prevent them from getting in the hive but I still get hordes of insects in the syrup and it gets gross quick. Any thoughts?

[little john]

There's a thread here on the use of fondant - which is one good option:
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=50659.0

If you're staying wih syrup, then it's important to keep the sun from heating the jars - as it's the liquid expansion (cooling followed by warming) which tends to progressively push syrup out through the holes - so some form of 'feeder shell' around the jar is the cure for that one.  I also use insulation around the jars to keep their temperature as constant as possible.

With nucs, use the smallest jars you can find.  I currently run 5-frame nucs with deep frames rather than mini-nucs and use re-cycled 1 lb jam-jars as inverted jar feeders, with four small holes (three would be ok) surrounding the central 'safety (tamper-proof) indicator'.  I used to smear a tiny amount of petroleum jelly onto the lid seal, but don't bother these days as it can be a tad messy - although the lids do now sometimes stick fast.  Whenever this happens, then I simply do a 'jar swap', and at the end of the day run boiling water over the stuck lid which always releases it.

When working with inverted jar feeders - you can test the seals easily enough by filling the jars half-full with water and inverting them over the kitchen sink.  Shake downwards once or twice - then hold the jar there inverted and wait to see if the dripping stops.  If it doesn't - then check the lid seal and jar lip carefully for damage or imperfections.  Any 'iffy' ones - bin 'em.

Like yourself, I find ants to be a pain in the butt - some of them even manage to climb into the jar via the holes and die there.  I don't yet have an answer to this ... but I'm working on it.  It'll probably be something along the lines of a grease band fitted to the stand legs ...

LJ

[Van, Arkansas, USA]

Dang ants.  I place my hives on bee hive stands.  I can place poison at the base of each leg to eliminate ants.  Now I?m not telling you to use poison close to a bee hive.  Some poisons are very toxic to humans as well as bees and ants.  I use a poison, made by Mother Nature (some call it organic) that degrades with sunlight.  A distance must be maintained from the bees.  I do not believe there is an approved substance to retarded ants from beehives.  So I cannot state what I use, nor recommend.    The stuff I use is approved for use on humans and a natural product of a flower and no it is not an opioid lol.
Blessings

[Bush_84]

Still not sure what I?ll do. My gut tells me to try fondant/candy, but I?d be interested in a side by side comparison. However with my struggles this past year I may just try a side by side with candy and dry sugar.

[little john]

Every single year I find that the queen-rearing season is much shorter than I'd have liked, especially when there's experimentation involved. So I think what you're doing right now - considering various options for the forthcoming season - is spot on.  This is the time to be doing this - then, if there's any special kit to be made - there's still time to make various bits and pieces before the big rush starts.

This year I'm going to be using half-sized frames for the first time and in an ideal world I need to get these drawn-out before the drones appear - so I'm currently working on possible methods to achieve this.

Very best of luck for the coming season ...
LJ

[Bush_84]

One thing that might be beneficial is building a box to draw them out. I took a medium nuc box (height of my mating nuc frames) and put a piece of wood down the middle to act as a frame rest. This way my frames are oriented the same direction as the others. I can fit 10 of these in there. It can be used to draw out comb or even just populate the mating Nucs.

[Cuttingedge]

Every single year I find that the queen-rearing season is much shorter than I'd have liked, especially when there's experimentation involved. So I think what you're doing right now - considering various options for the forthcoming season - is spot on.  This is the time to be doing this - then, if there's any special kit to be made - there's still time to make various bits and pieces before the big rush starts.

This year I'm going to be using half-sized frames for the first time and in an ideal world I need to get these drawn-out before the drones appear - so I'm currently working on possible methods to achieve this.

Very best of luck for the coming season ...
LJ

I am doing the same thing. I have used Queen Castles as well as the Mini Mating Nucs.
I built a few mating Nucs this season that take half frames. Some are divided 10 frame deeps and some are divided 5 frame Nucs. One advantage of this is that they have the same footprint as standard equipment and so can be stacked on top of colonies to get them drawn out. It is also much easier to find queens on smaller frames.

[minz]

Anybody here use Borax bait? I put some under my hives in a small disposable water bottle with some small holes in it. The small sugar ants seem to have gotten real bad this last year on everything from berries and fruit to the hives.