Tag Archives: nucleus

Preparing Bees For Winter Part 3: Nucleus Hives in Winter

Posted on November 6, 2012 by bean

My nucs are given the same 3 weeks of feed and are treated for mites, just like the strong hives. But after that, their lives take a different turn. Reminder: I prep the hives for winter starting in the third … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield Farm, hives, Karen Bean, Maple Falls, nucleus, over, Washington, Winter | Leave a comment

Walk Away Splits in a Bee Busy Week

Posted on May 4, 2012 by bean

The Farm Bee Yard It’s been a crazed 2 weeks. As things often do, everything bee-wise happened at once: Created 7 Nucs: 4 of these were straightforward overnight splits. 1 was an emergency “Who cares where the queen is. They’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged Brookfield, Brookfield Farm Bees and Honey, Farm, hives, how to, Maple Falls, move, nucleus, nucs, splits, walk away, Washington | Leave a comment

Overwintering Nucleus Hives Atop Strong Hives

Posted on November 23, 2011 by bean

How we overwinter nucleus hives on top of strong, full hives at Brookfield Farm, in Maple Falls Washington – rain and snow for 3-4 months of winter here. Photos and description of the “hive separator” we built to give nucs underfloor heating in winter. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged bee, Beekeeping, Brookfield, Brookfield Farm, Farm, honeybees, how to, Maple Falls, nucleus, overwinter, Washington | 2 Comments

An Idea for Practicing Grafting Honeybee Larvae

Posted on July 27, 2011 by bean

A recap of our group’s queen bee grafting endeavors, and an idea on how to practice grafting honeybee larvae without a cell builder to test one’s grafts Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queen Rearing : Honeybees | Tagged bee, Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield, Brookfield Farm, cells, Farm, graft, grafting, hives, honeybees, how to, ideas, Karen Bean, larvae, Maple Falls, Mt. Vernon, nucleus, nucs, Pat Ray, practice, queens, Washington | 1 Comment

Workers and Queen Cells Unite! Adventures in Queen Rearing, Part 2

Posted on July 10, 2011 by bean

Our group puts the gathered nurse honeybees and a queen cell into mini-mating nuclei (nucs) to allow the queen bee to emerge and begin to lay eggs. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping, Queen Rearing : Honeybees | Tagged Bean, bee, Beekeeping, bees, Brookfield, Brookfield Farm, Farm, honeybee, honeybees, how to, images, Karen, Karen Bean, Maple Falls, mating, nucleus, nucs, pictures, queen bee, queens, Washington | 2 Comments

Making Splits With Swarm Cells

Posted on May 28, 2010 by bean

Using swarm cells with developing queens to create honeybee nucleus hives (nucs). What I look for in a queen cell: description and location. Photos from Cyberbee.net: Dr. Zachary Huang, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged cell, cyberbee.net, Dept. of Entomology, Dr., hive, Huang, Michigan State University, nucleus, nucs, queen, swarm, Zachay | Leave a comment

Preparing for Nucs at a 700 Colony Operation

Posted on April 20, 2010 by bean

Sorting out waxed, plastic honeybee foundation and preparing nucleus (nuc) boxes with Bruce Bowen, of Bruce Bowen’s Bees, in Mt. Vernon, Washington. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged bees, Bruce Bowen, comb, drawn, drawn comb, foundation, honeybees, Mount Vernon, Mt. Vernon, nucleus, nucs, pallets, plastic, queens, Washington | 4 Comments

April Spilts & Nucs (making new hives from old)

Posted on April 14, 2010 by bean

Description of dividing board (or platform) which separates an established hive from a nucleus hive (nuc or split). This enables the nuc to use the heat of the established hive, but allows beekeeper access to lower hive. Also how to do an overnight split. Continue reading →

Posted in Beekeeping | Tagged bottom screen, hives, nuc, nucleus, over night split, overnight, overnight split, parent hive, split, splits | Leave a comment