I've been doing quite well with the Nicot system producing queen cells. I've been inserting queen cells into a mating nuc but only about 25% of the queens get mated and find their way back to the mating nuc.
I picked up a tip by stapling a playing card to the front of the mating nuc to give the queen a visual pattern that this is home. Still, I'm not getting queens to return to the mating nuc.
Or at least that's what I'm guessing. Maybe the other bees are killing the queens? There are no other queen cells produced from the frames pulled for the mating nuc and later inspection shows capped brood and no other indications of a mated queen.
Any thoughts or suggestions,
Grant
Jackson, MO
I picked up a tip by stapling a playing card to the front of the mating nuc to give the queen a visual pattern that this is home. Still, I'm not getting queens to return to the mating nuc.
Or at least that's what I'm guessing. Maybe the other bees are killing the queens? There are no other queen cells produced from the frames pulled for the mating nuc and later inspection shows capped brood and no other indications of a mated queen.
Any thoughts or suggestions,
Grant
Jackson, MO