Betterbee Polystyrene Nucs

[Robo]

Anybody have the Betterbee poly nucs with disk entrance?   I'm not interested in the disk, so I bought the plain ones with no entrance or vents.  Just curious about the location and sizes of the entrnace/vents.  Pictures would be great if anyone has any. 

Thanks,

rob...

[BeeHopper]

Anybody have the Betterbee poly nucs with disk entrance?   I'm not interested in the disk, so I bought the plain ones with no entrance or vents.  Just curious about the location and sizes of the entrance/vents.  Pictures would be great if anyone has any. 

Thanks,

rob...

Hey Robo,

I have 6 of them, one with the holes and disc already in place which I do not care for and the other five without any at all.  I have one that I am experimenting with now. I have cut two 1 1/2 inch ( hole saw blade ) holes on the bottom of the Nuc and screened them from the inside, I then cut a three inch slot on the Nuc by removing the raised top edge and removed the same on the Lid. I have essentially created a Top Entrance with ventilation thru the bottom, the Nuc will sit on a concrete block for the ventilation. The Nuc can also be used to house and transport a swarm by reversing the Lid to close the slot, but I do need to make a top vent somehow which can be opened or closed.    I will include pictures before the weekend is out. Make sure you leave the lids off the Nucs for awhile, they may still have some of the smell from manufacturing. I plan on overwintering a colony to see how they hold up. 


BeeHopper

[Robo]

I plan on overwintering a colony to see how they hold up. 

That's my plan.  I had such good luck with the full size Beemax stuff last winter,  I want to try a dozen of the nuc this year. I have been wintering wooden nucs with heaters,  but I'm hoping the poly would be easier. I assume the pre-drilled ones with the disks have a bottom entrance up high enough that it will still hold syrup if fed through the entrance.  I'm also thinking about a vent on the fron and back near the top that could be opened in the summer and closed off in winter and spring with some sort of plug.  I have found the more heat I can keep in them in the spring, the bigger the build up.

Looking forward to the pics...

[BeeHopper]

Robo, here are the pics of my Nuc:

3 inch slot for top entrance

Lid open to show where the Nuc body is cutout, note top of frame is flush with the entrance

Lid section cutout

Looking inside Nuc, 2 holes are drilled and screened

View from the bottom

Lid reversed to lock in the bees for transport

[Robo]

Very nice.  I like how you designed the lid and the ability to easily close off the entrance.   Did you use regular 5/30 minute epoxy on the vents?  Thanks for sharing the photos...


rob...

[BeeHopper]

Very nice.  I like how you designed the lid and the ability to easily close off the entrance.   Did you use regular 5/30 minute epoxy on the vents?  Thanks for sharing the photos...


rob...

As for securing the screened vents, I use a hot glue stick. 

[Robo]

Even better yet.... thanks

[joebrown]

Ok, I know this is an old topic, but do we have any results or opinions on these nucs. Also, does anyone have an opinion on overwintering nucs with a screened bottom. I use SBB on all my full size hives, but all my nucs have Solid bottoms. Do the bees, even with a smaller cluster, do well with SBB nucs.

[BlueBee]

does anyone have an opinion on overwintering nucs

Are bee keepers opinionated?  LOL  

I haven't used the Better Bee Foam hives, but I've done a lot of experimenting with home made ones.

[BlueBee]

Do I have an opinion about screened bottom boards in winter nucs?  

Opinions R Us.  If you’re using a foam hive, a big hole (ie SBB) completely negates the purpose of the foam in the first place!  The purpose of insulation is to retain as much of the heat energy the bees generate as possible.  That’s just a few watts in a nuc.  If you leave a huge hole in any foam container, it no longer acts as an insulator and you might as well use a wood hive in that case.  Would a person leave the top off a foam lunch cooler in the summer and expect their Pop to stay cool?  Same deal, if you have a big hole in foam hive, its value as an insulator is ruined.  

My designs use R10 foam (I’m in Michigan after all) and small holes to let moisture out, CO2 out, O2 in, and most of the bees heat in.

Here I am checking on one of my home made foam nucs.  I’ve tried dozens of designs, this one happens to be constructed of 2” polystyrene R10 foam with a laminated luan core.  Bottom entrance (other side of photo), back vent near the top.

Yeah, this is my best side too 

[joebrown]

As far as SBB go, I was referring to regular wooden nucs not the foam ones for the reasons you described. 

[VolunteerK9]

I dont use SBB's on my nucs. As a small colony, I think that they need every little bit of help that they can muster for keeping the broodnest at the correct temperature. Just my .02 though.

[derekm]

Do I have an opinion about screened bottom boards in winter nucs?  

Opinions R Us.  If you’re using a foam hive, a big hole (ie SBB) completely negates the purpose of the foam in the first place!  The purpose of insulation is to retain as much of the heat energy the bees generate as possible.  That’s just a few watts in a nuc.  If you leave a huge hole in any foam container, it no longer acts as an insulator and you might as well use a wood hive in that case.  Would a person leave the top off a foam lunch cooler in the summer and expect their Pop to stay cool?  Same deal, if you have a big hole in foam hive, its value as an insulator is ruined.  
...

A  SBB will work and not lose heat, but only if you can get 2" of absolutely still air underneath it with radiant heat reflective baffle. Its not possible unless you design it in and I never seen it done in a commercial design.