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Questions on making some nucs to over winter for next year

2K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Bradley_Bee 
#1 ·
I have been throwing around the idea of making some nucs up and raising some queens out of some stock that I want to carry on to next year just in case the orignal hive dont winter. I am totally new this is my first year but have came a long way in my first year with my willing to learn. I have made two splits this year with no problems.

What would be the best way for me to raise my queens that I want to put in the nucs? I dont know how to graft and do not have any of the tools to do so. I really dont want to pull whole frames of eggs out of the hives I want to make queens from cause I want to keep the mother hive going good and I want to make several Nucs. Also what is the lastest I can make these nucs up before winter?

Thanks
 
#2 ·
Good queens are egg-laying-machines. If she's a good, fecund queen, you could give her a new empty comb every second or third day, removing combs of eggs and replacing them with empty combs and hardly affect the strength of the parent colony, as long as you permit the queen to lay in the other combs too.

There are several tried and tested ways to raise a few or many queens without grafting. I highly recommend checking out some of the vintage books on queen rearing that Michael Bush has made available on his web site --> Queen Rearing.

You'll have to check with someone in your area or climate to find out the latest time of year that it would be possible. Perhaps Michael Palmer could give you some advice on that.
 
#3 ·
I've made alot of swarms by simply splitting equal parts of the hive. make sure there are eggs and capped brood. You don't have to be a 'grafter' to increase your hives. I don't know the weather in your area but I make my winter nuc splits in September when its still warm and the bees still have time to bring in honey to build up. However, they'll need to be monitored closely to make sure they don't starve. Here I can pop tops all winter long.
 
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