Failed Nuc

[Moobee]

I tried some queen rearing via the nuc method this year for the first time. Very small scale….. had success in three nucs which was great but one 6 frame nuc has steadfastly refused to raise a queen and just kept stuffing the frames with nectar (as fast as I could keep swapping them out!) so is now a mini honey box.
So, rather than keep trying, I’m thinking of harvesting the honey but what do I do with all the bees?

 

[Hachi]

Unite with a QR colony

 

[Moobee]

Unite with a QR colony

Doh! Yes of course. All my Q+ colonies have at least 2 supers still on them as they are slow to cap. I assume put the frames in a BB above the supers with a QX and newspaper underneath?

 

[Erichalfbee]

Doh! Yes of course. All my Q+ colonies have at least 2 supers still on them as they are slow to cap. I assume put the frames in a BB above the supers with a QX and newspaper underneath?

Spot on

 

[Belgianbeekeeper]

I tried some queen rearing via the nuc method this year for the first time. Very small scale….. had success in three nucs which was great but one 6 frame nuc has steadfastly refused to raise a queen and just kept stuffing the frames with nectar (as fast as I could keep swapping them out!) so is now a mini honey box.
So, rather than keep trying, I’m thinking of harvesting the honey but what do I do with all the bees?

Prob stupid question i guess but you say as fast as you swap them out,so,bit wundering the new ones y've put in were open brood,right,they need 1 to 3 day old larvae to pull q bubbles on.I don't see them filling up open brood with honey ,at worst they close them off without pulling q bubbles.If that is were it went wrong,they gonna be q needy as crazy,take two honey filled frames out,replace them with a frame with closed off brood and one with open brood,at most two days later you should see them pull q bubbles,then just pray that there are still enough drones around and their new q survives the mating flight.

 

[Moobee]

Prob stupid question i guess but you say as fast as you swap them out,so,bit wundering the new ones y've put in were open brood,right,they need 1 to 3 day old larvae to pull q bubbles on.I don't see them filling up open brood with honey ,at worst they close them off without pulling q bubbles.If that is were it went wrong,they gonna be q needy as crazy,take two honey filled frames out,replace them with a frame with closed off brood and one with open brood,at most two days later you should see them pull q bubbles,then just pray that there are still enough drones around and their new q survives the mating flight.

I added a mixed frame of brood which had eggs and very young larvae. They just capped the brood & didn’t produce any QCs! I’ve added a QC from another hive this week so it’s their last chance. If this doesn’t work, I’ll unite them with another hive.

 

[Belgianbeekeeper]

I added a mixed frame of brood which had eggs and very young larvae. They just capped the brood & didn’t produce any QCs! I’ve added a QC from another hive this week so it’s their last chance. If this doesn’t work, I’ll unite them with another hive.

sound solid,strange but can happen,it's the fun part of beekeeping and also the challenging part,keep running into unexplainable situations.For instance this one,like 6 weeks ago,a good running nuc,we do a check up and notice another q a carnica,our q's are buckfast and marked,then we saw our own q as well,both busy side by side egg laying and getting taken care of by the worksters,how she got there,most likely a tiny swarm from some neighbour but why the h... they accept her and start running with two q's without either killing her,trowing her out or go in swarmmood ?

 

[Moobee]

sound solid,strange but can happen,it's the fun part of beekeeping and also the challenging part,keep running into unexplainable situations.For instance this one,like 6 weeks ago,a good running nuc,we do a check up and notice another q a carnica,our q's are buckfast and marked,then we saw our own q as well,both busy side by side egg laying and getting taken care of by the worksters,how she got there,most likely a tiny swarm from some neighbour but why the h... they accept her and start running with two q's without either killing her,trowing her out or go in swarmmood ?

The bees constantly surprise me with their antics!