Nucleus Colony

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Nucleus Colony

Watch the video to see how to create a nucleus colony.

A successful split will produce surplus honey in the fall and should overwinter well.
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Nucleus Colony (Runtime 0:38)

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Making Nucs

  1. Remove 3–6 frames of brood and bees from a strong colony and move them to the center of a new hive body or into a nucleus box.
  2. Replace the missing frames in the original hive with foundation or drawn comb.
  3. Reduce the entrance of the nuc box or hive body that houses the split, to prevent robbing
  4. Provide supplemental honey or sugar syrup to stimulate colony growth, unless there is a nectar flow.

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Nuc box with the first frame inserted

Putting the old queen in the split reduces the likelihood of those bees returning to the parent colony.

We recommend putting the old queen in the split because it reduces the likelihood of those bees returning to the parent colony.  It is also possible to introduce a new queen or include some queen cells in the nuc box.

If introducing a new queen in the split, try to place it at least 2 miles away to prevent bees from returning. If the split is made in a nuc box, it will have to be moved to hive body soon, as a good split will outgrow its nuc box quickly.

A successful split will produce surplus honey in the fall and should overwinter well.

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