Hi CF,
Not a Penine local but another vote for fondant at this point.
Never very helpful giving retrospective advice but I am wondering about the 1212121 formation. If you get a warmish afternoon I would (exceptionally) nip in and check they have drawn the foundation in the middle out. If not or only half heartedly take out those frames and put the full combs with brood together, flanked by any with only stores and maybe one of foundation on the outside tops. Then dummy board and close up.
I am guessing they may not have substantially drawn out most of the foundation due to time of season etc and simply have no comb space to store more syrup hence why it is not going down. If you whack on a good lump of fondant in a ziplock freezer bag (cut open underneath of course) they can use it up as needed.
I completely understand your interleaving foundation but splitting brood nests is really only a ploy for big colonies in warm weather. What a May nuc can manage is not the same as a September one possibly only just assembled, so advice you got may have been confusing.
You see references made all the time to foundation as representing “more space” but I am convinced bees do not consider it as usable space until drawn as comb or provided as drawn comb, hence why many artificial swarms abscond after being split. Given a whole box of foundation as often advised and only the drawn comb with the queen on - they raise more queen cells and leg it anyway, leaving the poor perplexed beekeeper thinking they must have done something wrong, not that the method was basically flawed.
When starting out you are obviously constrained but the brood chamber is not a great place to draw foundation unless it is a new swarm.
Good luck and don’t worry they will be fine!
Not a Penine local but another vote for fondant at this point.
Never very helpful giving retrospective advice but I am wondering about the 1212121 formation. If you get a warmish afternoon I would (exceptionally) nip in and check they have drawn the foundation in the middle out. If not or only half heartedly take out those frames and put the full combs with brood together, flanked by any with only stores and maybe one of foundation on the outside tops. Then dummy board and close up.
I am guessing they may not have substantially drawn out most of the foundation due to time of season etc and simply have no comb space to store more syrup hence why it is not going down. If you whack on a good lump of fondant in a ziplock freezer bag (cut open underneath of course) they can use it up as needed.
I completely understand your interleaving foundation but splitting brood nests is really only a ploy for big colonies in warm weather. What a May nuc can manage is not the same as a September one possibly only just assembled, so advice you got may have been confusing.
You see references made all the time to foundation as representing “more space” but I am convinced bees do not consider it as usable space until drawn as comb or provided as drawn comb, hence why many artificial swarms abscond after being split. Given a whole box of foundation as often advised and only the drawn comb with the queen on - they raise more queen cells and leg it anyway, leaving the poor perplexed beekeeper thinking they must have done something wrong, not that the method was basically flawed.
When starting out you are obviously constrained but the brood chamber is not a great place to draw foundation unless it is a new swarm.
Good luck and don’t worry they will be fine!