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It mostly depends on the weather and how many bees are in to start off with. I set them up the day queens are meant to emerge and have seen some mated and laying 2 weeks after being set up. I wait for the brood to be capped before removing the queens. I have kept some in the apideas for 2 months...

Looking at the outcome any other option would have been better 😂. I watched a few videos of large scale breeders and they were doing the same, bees and virgin in at the same time. Perhaps they accept % loss with this method as it's time saving?

I made 3 apideas last summer and put the virgins at the same time as the cup full of bees and all 3 got killed! Still puzzled about it.

Queenless yes but how long have they got to be queenless for? Would it work on a nuc just made up?

The butler type cage is the easiest to make if you have a bit of mesh.

The plan of making nucs to introduce virgins is sensible and you can requeen when the nucs are established at the end of the summer. By then the workforce in your hives will have decreased. What I don't get is how you plan to introduce the queens in the nucs if you don't have any cages? Do you...

I usually start the mini nucs with just a cup of young bees, strip of foundation on the frames and fondant. By the time the queen has mated they've drawn a frame but takes them longer to get established.

The weather is so poor this year that I have not started queen rearing yet. I am due to get a breeder queen at the end of the month to graft mid July and to give my apideas a head start I have modified a super to take 3 rows of 15 apidea frames. This is going to be put over a brood box for the...

After such a poor spring and jars going up again, I have raised my prices by 20p a jar for stockists and 50p at the gate.

Bramble and clover have started but wondering if there is going to be a single crop this year, weather is so poor. It was 10c yesterday late morning. Took a day off to do the 4 sites and couldn't start before 2.30!

Your new queen will prefer to lay in a frame which already has brood, simple!

Bramble about to flower in the more sheltered spots!

I am quite partial to a bit of bee bread and will remove some now and again as a treat.... I do the same with the mushrooms mind, pick a few to chew on while I walk the dog!

Beat me to it 🤣

Denrosa Apiaries, will get the email for you if you need.

Yes so do I until they beat me to it and fill the frames before I can rotate. 🤣

Until all brood has emerged then I find the majority of young bees migrate back down below and the top box is not very busy and drawing stops. In that case (if I am sure there is no queen, I will remove the demaree board and put the box between the BB and supers until frames are ready to...

And removed ripped frames replacing with foundation so they draw these and store more honey!

not everyone is glued to the internet mind.....

Yes I looked at the link and also noted it was 9.4mm. I was also quoting internal diameter. Nicot is 10 external and 9mm internal.