I haven’t bee-logged in a while (not much has been happening while we wait for winter to end), some of my friends have noticed, so here’s my latest thoughts and updates.
This picture shows the nucs that have just arrived, with a medium super on the top to give perspective; these are 5 frame, medium nucs, that are just as long as a normal 10 frame medium Langstroth box.
The feeders are pretty cool; hive tops, with closed panels, so the bees don’t really need to be disturbed for feeding.
Why am I getting Nuc Hives?
I had the pleasure of listening to (Judge) Dan O’Hanlon speak at the Tri-County Beekeeper’s Association meeting up in Wooster last month, while he described his experiences with resource hives, hives in general, and Nucs (nuclear colonies). He quoted someone in our beekeeping history (I don’t recall who) and sold me on it entirely; his quote was along the lines of “every problem in the bee yard can be solved by moving bees into, or out of a nuc”.
So, as you can see in the picture above, I’m preparing to have 2 nucs ready. There are details, but basically if I see queen cells in my new hives (especially near capping), split into a nuc; if I have a nuc, overwinter it, and if it grows strong (and looks like it might swarm), move some of them into another nuc or hive; catch a swarm, put it into a nuc; if I have too many bees, sell off one of the nucs, etc…. Beekeeping is changing.
If you monitor any of the sites that track Honey prices, you’ll see what all the beekeepers are saying… There’s not much $money in Honey anymore (if that’s why you are keeping bees); if you want to make $money in Honey Bees, then your bees are already coming back from pollinating the California Almond crop (it is pretty lucrative to rent your hives to farmers who need pollinators), and they are moving onto Apples, etc. in the Pacific Northwest, OR, you are making bees to sell to folks like me.
Many of the beekeepers are moving their operations to handle only Nucs; interesting.
I’m not in it for the $money, but I do want to be a successful Beekeeper, so that includes having strong and healthy hives; Nuc hives are a part of that plan.
Judge O’Hanlon also discussed what he is doing with developing Varroa Mite resistant queens; see his site at Mountain State Queens; he’s onto something; we all can learn a lot from Judge Dan O’Hanlon. If you ever get the chance to hear him speak, I urge you to do so; he is extremely smart, entertaining, knows his bees, and toys with his own caricature of what it means to be a Mountaineer!
By the way, I’ve been visiting our bee yard, hoping that all this warm weather would cause some of our prairie flowers we planted in December to start growing; but I see nothing yet; I bet in a week we see signs… I’ll keep you posted.
Right now, I’m just working through “Bee School”, and waiting for the call to come get our bees (nucs); that isn’t expected to happen until May.