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That was my original plan but the 3 packs of 3rds I got I was lucky enough that only parts for 1 box are very poor so will use ply for rest of sides.

I recently bought some national brood 3rds, I have filled where required and now in the process of table sawing in half to make 5 frame nuc boxes. So 3/4 of the box will be cedar with a 18mm plywood side My question is has anybody used yacht varnish to seal plywood before on new nucs or hives...

Ive grafted for the last 3 years and this year seemed the worse year, poor take on the grafting and poor mating.

I have 2, 3 frame nucs in a home made wooden double box. Is it too late to move them to 5 or 6 frame polys and take a frame from some of my big hives to make them up? These are queens that i grafted late but doing well.

Good news. I find what Ian is saying makes it a whole lot easier. Find a good patch of lava the right age Stanley knife the cell walls down and you will get your grafting tool under easier with the angle Good luck with the first batch

No practice at all, I was grafting and she wanted a go. She was very slow and methodical but it worked

14 out of 20 for me first graft of season. These are from an island mated Branstrup queen .... the 4 yellow cell holders on the top bar were grafted by my 8year old daughter. She's well happy with her 3 out of 4 for her first ever go. Names are already for them if they mate.

Took this pic today, this was a daughter of a swarm I collected 2 years ago that had been living in a tree for years. Very calm and there were about 6 of the frame like this. Grafting from her this year.

If you want cheap high quality seeds look at Premier Seeds Direct There packets are nearly all priced at 99p and you get loads more seeds than you get with all the well known suppliers. I have been using them for a few years now. There postage is quick 3-4 days after ordering There on your...

Can you add virgins to these nucs with the pheromone strips in rather than queen cells?

Thanks Pargyle I thought you could but seems frowned apon.

Just after a yes / no answer.... can you have RAW HONEY on your labels? I do currently and I don't want to dump these and get new ones as they were not cheap.

I have placed my 3 frame mating nucs out ready for when my virgins emerge in the incubator. I will move a couple and spread out more but for queens have I left enough space between the 8foot high hedge and the boxes? Its around 1.5 meters

Thanks B+ for the reply. I managed to graft for the first time last year and got 4 queens mated from the same mother (Peter Stofen Island mated). They were open mated and all 4 are going great guns and very calm. I am the absolute beginner but I am keeping detailed records and plan on rearing...

I had great success in getting all 20 grafts accepted that I did on Saturday, the only trouble is looking at them now they are capped some are not full of royal jelly. Is it worth keeping them all or will I be making trouble for myself trying to mate some of these? If you zoom in on pics some...

Checked all home hives this morning.... there going great guns 3rd super added to all. Hive that swarmed now has a laying queen and my 20 out or 20 grafts are now all capped, I have a question on them so posted in queen rearing.

Checked all hives yesterday at both out apiaries and home. They are making up for lost time, no signs of June gap here in South Lincs. Added undrawn supers with Manley frames to allot of hives last week and all drawn perfectly and 1/2 full. Did my first grafts of season on Saturday and only my...

So checked 2 hives I have at a farm for past 3 weeks 50 yards from an OSR field in full flower. Not a drop in the supers and small amount in broods. That shows how bad the weather has been. The other 10 hives at home and out apiary are OK but no honey in any supers also and just holding their...

I'm waiting another couple of weeks and then having my second go after 4 nice queens from my 1 go last year

I welcome any improvements Ian.