6F Dadant Blatt Poly Nuc Quarti®

01 · SIX, NOT FIVE

The extra frame changes what you can do inside

Almost every nuc on the market takes five frames; this one takes six, and the difference shows twice. When feeding, because you can fit a frame feeder without giving up comb — in a five-frame box the feeder leaves you with four. And when raising, because it carries a slightly stronger colony before you have to move it into a hive. In exchange it takes up more room and weighs more when full, so if what you want is the smallest box for collecting swarms, the five-frame is plenty.

02 · THE POLYSTYRENE

It insulates far better than timber, and that is why it is not treated like timber

The body is high-density expanded polystyrene (80), considerably denser than packaging EPS. Hence its two advantages: it insulates against cold and heat far better than a timber wall of the same thickness, and it weighs little, which is what you notice moving swarms. The trade-off has to be said, because it is the question that comes in most: it does not scrape like wood. Attack the propolis on the walls with a steel hive tool and the blade bites into the wall and leaves a groove. What works is scraping cold and flat with a plastic or wooden tool, and washing with warm water. No blowtorch and no solvents: polystyrene melts and dissolves.

03 · WHAT ARRIVES

Roof and entrance yes; frames and fittings no

The set includes the body, the roof and the entrance, both in polystyrene, the floor ventilation grid and the upper and lower notches for frame spacing. What it does not include: the frames and the metal fittings — the straps and catches you see in the maker’s video are bought separately. That question reaches us in German, and it is worth settling before you order.

04 · BEFORE YOU BUY

It measures 495 × 275 mm on the footprint and 395 mm tall on the outside. And before combining it with gear you already own, check the top bar of your frames: in Spain the usual one is the 48 cm Dadant US, which will not fit here.