How to make a Nuc?

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Busy Bee

House Bee
Joined
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Location
N. Ireland
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How do I make a Nuc?

I have a hive on double brood with around 16 frames of brood. I want to split into nucs but they are not in swarm mode so there is no QC's. Can nuc's be made from this hive? Yes there is pollen and honey frames in the brood.

Busy Bee
 
You could buy in queens as you dont have swarm cells. You could split them and let them make emergency queens but you could end up with poor quality queens that way.
 
You could make what some people call poor man's nucs.
Put 3 frames brood and 2 of stores in nuc. make sure have eggs. Shake in some extra bees. Take to new site.

Then when QCs come, destroy older ones, leaving one or two ( I now leave one as I am sick of swarms) of the youngest and wait to see if your virgin mates and you get eggs.

i would feed nucs.

i agree that you can get poor quality queens this way
 
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i agree that you can get poor quality queens this way

I have to say that I find this 'theory' laughable sometimes (not offence meant to Polyanwood).

Many long-standing bee farmers actually state that you can get very
good Queens from what are thought of as 'emergency' cells.

It's a little bit like the 'using brood boxes as supers is foolish' camp.....they all seem to forget that A W Gale almost never used supers and in the main used brood boxes to harvest his honey from.

A weird, opinion-driven world is bee-keeping!!

:)
 
I have to say that I find this 'theory' laughable sometimes (not offence meant to Polyanwood).

No offence taken. I have had brilliant queens reared this way, but in my view it is a lottery. It seems logical to me that the best queens are more likely to be those that are well fed and cared for. Fewer bees and possibly less good quality food are more likley to happen in a small colony. Destroying the older queen cells does improve the odds of getting a good one.

I think if you are making nucs for your own expansion, then it is fair enough and if the queen turns out to be poor, then you bear that risk. If you are making them to sell, then it is only fair that we shoudl be honest about how the queen was reared. I think the price of a nuc with a queen made this way should be less
 
I think its fair to say that good queens are raised by strong colonys, however there are always exceptions. My best queen was raised in a nuc on the emergency basis. She is now in her third season currently on double commercial brood and about to produce 2-3 nucs, if they are anything like as good as her I'll be very happy!
 
There are arguments on both sides and WPC there are situations where brood boxes as supers are not suitable... as discussed... lol

I think we might agree that planned queen rearing produces probably the best queens.

So. given this person wishes to make nucs might it not be a plan to establish where the queen is by use of an excluder between the brood boxes?

Then put the Q+ BB on top of the supers to push them into rearing cells.

PH
 
but they are not in swarm mode so there is no QC's.

Back on topic. You don't need them in 'swarm mode'. Just add an extra box between the broods and most likely they will build supercedure cells upstairs (if eggs or young brood is present). if they don't, just add another box, make sure there are eggs/young larvae in the top box and try again.

Regards, RAB
 
.

When you have a good hive, let it grow and bring a good honey yield. Look what it can do.

It is may now and if you do now a nuc, it will not be productive this sumer.

So, don't hesitate. If later some hive start to make swarm cells, take from the good hive larvae and put into swarm cells.

Then you make some mating nucs and you have a start to real nuc.During the summer you aid with emerging brood frames those nucsand they take care themselves.

Problem is that if you take too much bees from big hives, you loose the yield.
In late summer you may split hives when main yield is in hives.

.
 
That sounds like good advise Finman. I was lead to believe that double brood will not produce a yeild but merely only be good for increasing stock.

Busy Bee
 
How to make a nuc

My local strain of bees likes to swarm and invariably give it a go once they have filled their brood box, despite plenty of super space over the queen excluder. More brood must equate to less honey, but swarming is even worse.

I have been thinking that the bees might work better without a queen excluder. This would allow the queen to roam and lay at will, spreading her queen substance unimpeded.

But .....
 
but what? Brood and a half, double brood or a bigger box. Doesn't seem too difficult to work out.

Welcome to the forum.

local strain of bees likes to swarm

Where might that be? All bees have to swarm - or they will be no longer, sooner or later.

Regards, RAB
 
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Strange ideas.....

When I have a big hive, the bigger, the better yield. But foragers and nurserbees must be in balance.

If you split a big hive, it gives nothing. It start from beginning the brood rearing.

Swarming= foragers escape....after one year nursing...


Local bees ... what are they???

I bought 3 queens last summer 500 km from north and one of them is now splended. Is it local? It is there local but not in my yard? Why?

If bees are not contionuously selected they get back their natural swarming habit
 
My local strain of bees likes to swarm and invariably give it a go once they have filled their brood box,

Very bad stock, - I had those 45 years ago. Good for nothing.

I must have 5-7 boxes filled with brood and honey. Otherwise the queen get a kick to abdomen.
 
So Finman,

What your saying is leave them alone until they decide to swarm or remove congested frames to a smaller colony to curtain swarming urge. This will produce a proper yield of honey instead of the normal single brood colony.

In your opinion what would you do with this 14 frame double brood?


Busy Bee
 

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