there is reasons that they are like that.
its up to the beekeeper to understand the why and know how to fix when required.
one of the difficult things is the time between cause and effect. quite often people by the time people have seen the effect they have forgotten what the cause was. also, sometimes, by the time they see the effect its to late.
you need to learn what the causes are. that way you can fix them before its to late.
Quite right, the strong hive was used to make a vertical split.... left it reasonably strong despite. My theories are;
The one with stores, but none for me was a nuc this season and maybe swarmed (never figured that out)
The one that needs feeding is a worry. Couldn't' find the queen, but it is queen right. So no mite count. But no overt PMS signs. It didn't look like it's been robbed. Strong laying, and good spread of brood, no old cells. It was another potential swarm hive (and was the split generated from the strong hive)
The last one was from a new nuc this season so not too worried.
The nuc that's failing has been perched out in the wind, i should have found a more sheltered spot for it. So I've moved it back to my urban sunny apiary. This nuc also suffered the fact I forgot that when you generate a nuc as part of swarm control, you should move it to the "out apiary" so that you loose less bees from drift.
But my point is still valid. As a keeper that is constantly learning, unlike people with years of experience who know it all, having a manageable number of hives gives great exposure to variances by comparison.
