casts in nucs

[newbie]

I caught 2 casts on 17th June, and put each into separate nuc boxes.
My poly nuc shows no sign of a queen, but my second wooden nuc now has a laying queen. The wood nuc has a solid floor
If "poly" continues queenless I intend to unite it with the second nuc, and put them into a hive (my last spare one !)
Is the best way to unite 2 nucs to spray them lightly with sugar syrup and hive them together - presumably keeping the frames from "Poly" together and putting them next to the other set of frames ? Or is there a better way please ?
thanks all

 

[Finman]

Propably boath have queen but virgin is difficult to see.
Bees propably kill the virgin when joined.

You just put them together.

The hives tarts better when you unite them. If the hive became queenless, bye a new laying queen.
You loose nothing.

 

[oliver90owner]

My poly nuc shows no sign of a queen

Don't know how you 'caught' them of course, but almost certainly there was a queen.

She may have been lost during a mating flight or for some other reason, but the highest probability is that she is still there.

So a check with a test frame is the best route before doing anything else. The bees must be queenless before you attempt to unite.

 

[Poly Hive]

No brood or eggs does not indicate no queen. It indicates strongly a virgin and as Rab says, as do I, please use a test frame as you risk the mated queen you do have by chucking them together. That is a 50-50 bet, I prefer better odds myself.

PH

 

[newbie]

I shall try a test frame, thanks

(O90O I "caught" the cast as it conveniently clustered 4' up in a hedge on 1 branch, which I cut off and simply put the whole cluster plus branch into the nuc. Then I shook the bees off the branch. The Q must have been there as they were quite happy to stay put.)