nucs

[eddyh]

Is it too late to make up some nucs with spare mated queens?

 

[BrianO]

I made one up 2 weeks ago, going strong.

I would say given your location and a month of build up NO , feed additionally and make up strong.

Depends on how you make them up, fames of sealed brood and stores, feed and treat.

Spare mated queens are valuable, shame to waste.

 

[eddyh]

was going to make them up with a couple of frames of sealed brood and a frame of stores in a poly nuc and feed,does that sound o k for this time of year as i have only made them in the spring or mid summer before.Thanks for your reply.

 

[mbc]

Its not too late at all, but I find as the season gets later they need more and more bees in proportion to brood and it becomes less worthwhile doing unless you happen to have lots of spare bees from colonies still brooding nicely. Most of my natives are contracting their nests quite sharply and I wouldnt wish to split them now, one or two are still going like the clappers and I've no worries splitting these so long as they get feed in return to keep the queens laying, little and often is the way to go so that the nests dont get plugged out with stores.

 

[Michael Palmer]

Its not too late at all,

How late can you make up nucs and how strong should they be made at that time...frames of bees/frames of brood?

Here it's way too late, but that's here. Our flow season ends in less than a month, and brood rearing will be finished by mid-October.

 

[MartinL]

Is it too late to make up some nucs with spare mated queens?

If you don't it'll be the Queens who'll be LATE!!

 

[Plenty of honey]

We made a few up this week here in North Brittany, as we were finishing our harvesting we had loads of nurse bees under the bee escapes, one knock and their in a box with one frame of bees and one of brood.
Like all have said, make them strong. If you have mated queens they should be absolutely fine and the forthcoming ivy flow looks great although i am not sure of your location!
We could have another month of good weather or should I say favourable weather, I reckon its well worth the risk! They usually overwinter better in nucs than mating nucs, but that depends on your set up.
I only putsome very late cells in to Nucs on the 23rd August here, so thats pushing it, but it looks as though i might just get away with it. Fingers crossed!!

 

[eddyh]

I am going to take a chance and make up some 3 frame dadant nucs on saturday as these mated queens are far too good to waste,and i will feed them as there has been no flow here for at least a couple of weeks. it certainly wont be a problem finding bees for them as a lot of my hives are still bursting with bees.thanks for the replies.

 

[mbc]

How late can you make up nucs and how strong should they be made at that time...frames of bees/frames of brood?

Here it's way too late, but that's here. Our flow season ends in less than a month, and brood rearing will be finished by mid-October.

It's weather dependant, cool nights and wet windy weather here at the moment but some high pressure forecast next week. I reckon nucs made with two reasonable frames of brood and bees to cover four combs popped into a six frame poly nuc- standard national frames- with a mated queen at the start of the nice weather should get going well enough to be able to take advantage of the ivy flow later on, which usually goes on into early November, and overwinter strong enough to expand quite quickly in the spring. There's a lot of "ifs and buts" and obviously the law of diminishing returns applies the later you leave it.
I doubt I'll make many more now, but then it depends on how many mated queens I need to re-house from their mating nucs, I won't know till I get round them all.
We have one of the longest growing seasons in the UK here in west Wales.