nucs for sale in Derby

[andypigeon]

i will have a few nucs for sale in the sping maybe a full hive on b.s nats and one 14x12 nuc,

 

[hedgerow pete]

what are you planning on charging for them as i have a few new bees looking for some a lot sooner than i was planning to do mine

 

[drstitson]

Hrp

presumably you're looking for a price per bee???

 

[Hombre]

Standard cost is 0.5P per bee

 

[Poly Hive]

My nats will be £140 and the Langstroth (if any have survived as they were made up late) will be £160.

That is my initial thought though it remains to be seen how hard the prices will hold.

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

Those are good fair prices Pete,and are a bargain if compared to the prices a couple of suppliers are charging, £120 per five frame nuc.....should i go on further?

 

[Poly Hive]

They will be good nucs Hivemaker, I hate to buy rubbish and so winna sell it.

However it is going to be interesting to see what the prejudice against over wintered queens is going to be. Ho hum...

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

Well, with regards to young queens, that have been over wintered in a 5/6 frame nuc...i would say they are just about the best anyone could buy in spring.

Why because the queens have........?

 

[Poly Hive]

Is this a trick Q?

PH

 

[andypigeon]

i dont know about price yet im thinking about £130, im waiting to see what comes though the winter, if like last year they will be about 10 nucs getting sold as im going back to just 2 hives. i like to know early as i only make up the nucs i have sold so i dont end up with to many on the go. Andy

 

[Hivemaker.]

Is this a trick Q?

PH

No......the queen has proved herself to be a fairly good queen by comming through a winter.

 

[beebreeder]

And for new beekeepers an early season nuc cared for correctly should give a honey harvest first season, weather permitting.

 

[Chris B]

If I were buying I'd prefer an overwintered queen. A newly mated queen carries the risk of an early failure. I wouldn't regard them as reliable until they've gone through 2 or 3 brood cycles okay.

 

[oliver90owner]

The question is: How would one get an early nuc without an overwintered queen? Answer, I suppose is: Get a recently introduced imported queen with overwintered workers (OK most of the workers will be 'new season bees', but possibly recruited from several different hives?).

I have never yet bought a nuc (let alone an early one), but I know the former would be my choice, even for a few quid extra. Much better chance of an early harvest as the other will always have a greater chance of early supercedure. Not a lot of crop required to recoup the extra outlay.

Furthermore, it is likely to have bees/frames from only one source (itself), for the previous six months, and thus will have less chance of an imported disease pathogen from any of up to about another 4 colonies!

Regards, RAB

 

[Chris B]

Totally agree RAB.
Strange then that any nuc standard I've ever seen specifies current season queen with all her own brood. Very hard to produce such a nuc early enough to give a honey crop in the same season. You've got to make a compromise somewhere: (i) age of queen (ii) honey crop (as implied by most standards) or (iii) all brood not offspring of queen (as with a lot of commercially supplied nucs).

 

[Poly Hive]

For some reason, and no doubt considered a very good reason, the standard has always said current seasons queen.

However on saying that as above to my mind an over wintered queen has the massive advantage of both being proven, and still having the power of pheromones to lessen the swarming risk for a beginner. Which is NOT to say the said nuc won't offer to swarm. A great deal depends on management, or is that mismanagement?

PH

 

[Nopants]

i dont know about price yet im thinking about £130, im waiting to see what comes though the winter, if like last year they will be about 10 nucs getting sold as im going back to just 2 hives. i like to know early as i only make up the nucs i have sold so i dont end up with to many on the go. Andy

I will also be selling some nucs in the spring as I have more than enough colonies to contend with. I live in Northants so pm me with your requirements and I will see what I can do.

 

[Ervyne]

I am a newbie to the forum, currently in my third year of keeping bees, so still a newbie to that too, but looking to make increase, so I would be interested in any nucs that are about for this new year!

 

[Skyhook]

I am a newbie to the forum, currently in my third year of keeping bees, so still a newbie to that too, but looking to make increase, so I would be interested in any nucs that are about for this new year!

How much increase do you want? With 3 hives, surely at least one of them is going to build queen cells this year? That gives you all sorts of opportunities, from a simple AS to making up a number of nucs.

 

[Ervyne]

Hi, I have lost a weak colony this winter, which I did not get chance to merge with my other main colony. I want some honey so I am not looking to split the big colony, and the other one is too small this year.

I hope this makes sense!