Jim Satterfield wrote: >I'm going to try some 4.5 inch plastic flower pots as mini nucs. >I'll be using three small top bars.... Hummm....GMTA <g> Thats what I use for mating nucs (kinda...)! I go to a local nursery and get (free) some of the "five gallon" pressed-board buckets they have. The last time I went, the guy said, "sure, help yourself, they're over there" (& pointed to an entire pile of them). I looked through them and quickly picked out the 25 best I could find. Got 'em home and hosed out the bit of potting soil that was still in a couple of them and 'presto', had my nuc bodies! The top is composed of three (usually) 'top bars' with a little piece of starter foundation in them. And the rest of the top (two pieces) is made of scrap plywood cut to fit the opening of the pressed-board bucket. I cut the ply wood top so as to accomodate a single top bar or as many as five top bars. If you've never handled Top Bar Hive "Frames" before, you've got to be careful with them; you can't 'man-handle' them as you would a complete wooden frame. With very little time spent "fabricating" anything and virtually no out of pocket expense, I have a great little (almost free) nuc box. The fibre pressed-board bucket will hold up over time too. I've been using them as nucs for three years now and expect to get another two or three years of use out of them. Then of course, I may have to replace them (& they're still free for the asking). BusyKnight Dallas, TX PS -- The buckets have rather large drain holes in the bottom of them and the bees use those for the entry...works great. BusyKnight Dallas, TX [log in to unmask] Texas - the land of bobwar and jag wires.