Poly Hive
Queen Bee
- Joined
- Dec 4, 2008
- Messages
- 14,097
- Reaction score
- 402
- Location
- Scottish Borders
- Hive Type
- National
- Number of Hives
- 12 and 18 Nucs
A nucleus colony is a “baby” unit which can be used for many situations.
Banking a queen to conserve her egg laying for breeding reasons.
Parking a queen to use elsewhere.
Queen mating.
Making increase.
Producing a couple of queens in a swarming situation to ensure at least one good mating.
No doubt there are other uses but I think these are the main ones.
How do I make up a nuc?
I hate to say this but it all starts with find the queen, or at least knowing where she is. In a single brood box you really do have to find her, in a double inserting a queen excluder four days prior to the event will let you know (by presence or absence of eggs) in which box she is and provided you are not intending hammering the one colony then a couple of nucs can be taken off from the one brood box.
Having found the queen, I take a good solid frame of sealed brood with a good queen cell. As you will likely have noticed those frames tend not to have too many bees on them so... I spray (more later) perfumed water on another couple of combs or even more if needed to ensure there are enough bees in the nuc and shake them in. I usually put in three frames of bees to the one of brood. Plus a frame of foundation, one of stores, and dummy with a frame feeder.
I stuff the entrance with grass and they are left like that pretty much sealed if for three days. By the end of that time the grass will have wilted and the bees will be beginning to fly freely. I am just using the one out apiary these days so all my nucs remain on the site where they have been created. If you are in the happy situation of having a 2nd or even 3d location then it is that much easier, shut them in and move them the requisite three miles.
The perfumed spray. I use a pressurised Hozelok sprayer with a mix of water and perfume, the stuff the wife has taken against is the best, not her best please.... I find it very useful to have to hand as if I end up having to mix frames from different hives the perfume masks the individual scents and enables a peaceful co-mingling.
I give them a check in a few more days to ensure the cell is ok, then leave them to it for a good three weeks to allow the virgin time to emerge, fly, mate and come into lay.
A couple of nuc boxes are a very good investment for any beekeeper to make, whether home made or a bought in deluxe model they add considerable to your beekeeping abilities from the sheer flexibility they offer.
PH
Banking a queen to conserve her egg laying for breeding reasons.
Parking a queen to use elsewhere.
Queen mating.
Making increase.
Producing a couple of queens in a swarming situation to ensure at least one good mating.
No doubt there are other uses but I think these are the main ones.
How do I make up a nuc?
I hate to say this but it all starts with find the queen, or at least knowing where she is. In a single brood box you really do have to find her, in a double inserting a queen excluder four days prior to the event will let you know (by presence or absence of eggs) in which box she is and provided you are not intending hammering the one colony then a couple of nucs can be taken off from the one brood box.
Having found the queen, I take a good solid frame of sealed brood with a good queen cell. As you will likely have noticed those frames tend not to have too many bees on them so... I spray (more later) perfumed water on another couple of combs or even more if needed to ensure there are enough bees in the nuc and shake them in. I usually put in three frames of bees to the one of brood. Plus a frame of foundation, one of stores, and dummy with a frame feeder.
I stuff the entrance with grass and they are left like that pretty much sealed if for three days. By the end of that time the grass will have wilted and the bees will be beginning to fly freely. I am just using the one out apiary these days so all my nucs remain on the site where they have been created. If you are in the happy situation of having a 2nd or even 3d location then it is that much easier, shut them in and move them the requisite three miles.
The perfumed spray. I use a pressurised Hozelok sprayer with a mix of water and perfume, the stuff the wife has taken against is the best, not her best please.... I find it very useful to have to hand as if I end up having to mix frames from different hives the perfume masks the individual scents and enables a peaceful co-mingling.
I give them a check in a few more days to ensure the cell is ok, then leave them to it for a good three weeks to allow the virgin time to emerge, fly, mate and come into lay.
A couple of nuc boxes are a very good investment for any beekeeper to make, whether home made or a bought in deluxe model they add considerable to your beekeeping abilities from the sheer flexibility they offer.
PH
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