[WilliamsHoneyBees]

I'm wanting to take a frame of eggs larva from a good hive and let a queenless nuc make 5 or less natural queen cells. This queenless nuc would be overflowing with bees. Will this work okay. I'm really just needing a few this go round. Is this enough bees to feed and make good queens.


Thanks
Dan Williams

 

[BeeCurious]

This year is the first for me to coax hives into raising queens so I count myself among the least qualified to respond to this.

But... what I did was to remove the queen and then left the bulk of the colony to make cells. I believe that I started the process about four weeks too late as most of the cells were pretty small.

Some mistakes I make twice... I would remove the queen to a nuc and leave the hive with the youngest open brood and eggs. And feed if there isn't a good nectar flow. At least that's my understanding.

I'm working on a second set of cells, but I'm fairly convinced that the quality is poor.

In any case I won't be disappointed.

 

[WilliamsHoneyBees]

anyone else have any other insights?

 

[peacekeeperapiaries]

It might work, but depends on how many cells the hive deems it wants to draw on the comb from the brood presented. I know several guys who graft and use 5 frame nucs as cell builders, 25 cups at a time who routinely get 20-25 drawn. The bees might draw 5, might draw 10, or might draw 1 or 2 when just presented a frame with eggs/larvae. You hope they make the 5 you want but they may not.