> One beekeeper that I know uses a little different idea > for making his splits. I have never tried this as I > have never tried for big increases but it sounds like > a good idea and he is quite happy with his results. > He starts with a strong hive and completely consumes > it to make up nucs. This was described as "yard trashing", as I recall in an article in one of the US bee mags in the last 5 years or so. Good article. > A quite a few beekeepers in this area make their > increase into nuc boxes instead of hive bodies. Dave Green -- a wise and prolific contributer to this list -- mentioned, if I understood him correctly, an idea that has intrigued me ever since: he suggested that he used tarpaper (or some such) to divide a standard box when making splits last spring (or maybe it was the year before). Since then I have been thinking how one could drape 6 mil black plastic over the centre howevermany frames in a box to make a comfy nuc that would not require transferring later. Of course, I was dreaming of using something handy -- like the pillows Eric developed. Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:[log in to unmask] & [log in to unmask] Honey. Bees, & Art <http://www.internode.net/~allend/>