Below is a typical custom-built setup I use as a nuc box. Each of the three divided sections has three deep frames for easy transference to full size hives. Remember your whole operation has to work smoothly. You don’t want to be working with toy frames that give you such a limited number of eggs that grading queen laying is next to impossible. Ask yourself whether you can pull a frame from here and put it there. If the answer is no, then rethink what you are doing. Some work with medium size boxes that are a little less stressful on the back. That is fine, just use frames that will fit throughout. This means your nuc’s should use medium size frames as well.
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Pictured on the right I’m feeding out pollen in early February. What I’ve done is place pollen substitute on racks under a roof eve to keep the rain off. This is a soy based pollen like Bee-Pro. This is done as a monitoring tool. I can tell without opening the hive that the bees are beginning to brood up as they start to get spring feelings. Also just as soon as natural sources start showing up they will stop taking this non-natural source of pollen almost overnight. When it is raining a number of the more Northwest savvy bees will still show up. By monitoring the hives that are working it is now possible to use this information as a selection tool on who to breed from. So you’ve answered three questions: 1. are they brooding, 2. are natural sources of pollen available, and 3. I work in cooler weather and might be a first choice to breed from over an equally rated hive.