I'm Excited!

[DonMcJr]

Well as most of you have seen I've bought 2 Double Nuc Boxes and my goal is to start creating Queens in these Nucs from my over-wintered Stock and then Successfully Over-winter the Double Nucs.

I also have been looking for a Method that our Beekeeping Club Members can use to Make Queens for these Nucs without Qrafting. I'd believe that instead of 2 Hives Starting out which everyone recommends that One Hive and a Double Nuc is a better approach. That way you have 3 Possible Hives come spring and you can either expand or sell the Nucs and start over creating the Nucs again!

So the Method to create these Nucs had to be 1. Fairly Easy for even a new Beekeeper and 2. Have Minimal effect on Honey Production cause most folks would like Honey and with Splits and making your own Queens you could effect Honey Production.

So after about 3 Months of Research I have came up with My Variation of the Cloake Board Method...and I really think I have something here!

Of Course I am going to try it myself 1st and Document and Video Tape it all and when it works I will share it! I don't want to share it and have a newbee see it and think it's proven and fail.

So stayed tuned and if it works I will Share after it works!

[LazyBkpr]

Sweet! Interested to see what you came up with!
   Managing the nuc's to keep them from swarming, you can put the extra brood in the main hive to boost it for honey production. Once its STRONG you will have a chore dealing with extra brood though. 

   

[DonMcJr]

Yep I already planned for that too Lazy! I really think this is going to work out I wish it would warm up and get rid of all this snow!

Here's my 4 Hives the other day...and yes that white stuff is still falling around here

[LazyBkpr]

   the snow here is gone!!  I am quite thankful for that. Our warmest day so far has been 62, but the nights are still cold.. around 27 degrees, so not feeding syrup.
   i thought, when I found my bees in the top of the hives that they had burned through ALL of their stores, but on that 62 degree day, i found that they had chimneyed due to the extreme cold. there was still quite a lot of honey left on the edges and outer frames. SO i moved it all up into the top box.. that was quite a chore. I still have sugar on them, and pollen patties now as well. Trying to give them OPTIONS to keep them going..
   Rained here most of the day, cold and 35 + mph winds right now..   I think the bees are getting as ticked at the weather as I am. Like you, I am ready to start getting things done!!!!

[Jen]

Nice pic Scott! and glad that you're having some time with your bees 

[riverbee]

looking forward to your updates don! 

[apisbees]

I'd believe that instead of 2 Hives Starting out which everyone recommends that One Hive and a Double Nuc is a better approach. That way you have 3 Possible Hives come spring and you can either expand or sell the Nucs and start over creating the Nucs again!

I don't quite follow your reasoning as most starting will be buying either a nuc or a package. These bees if every thing goes well will expand to 2 double deeps with possibility of a super of surplus honey for the beekeeper. Trying to keep bees in a smaller space of a nuc box increases the challenges, increases the chance of swarming, beekeeping is confusing to most new beekeepers when we thy to keep it simple telling they should use 2 different systems the first year will create a way more confusion for them.

If you are intending this as a way for new beekeepers to start into beekeeping, you need to keep in mind that they are starting out with no drawn comb other than the 4 or 5 frames that come with the nuc. What you can accomplish with bees is greatly effected by the resources you have available to provide to them.
Looking forward to you system and updates on how it is progressing, the successes and failures.

[DonMcJr]

Splits later in the Summer...IF their hive is strong enough...

Of course it may boil down to getting their 1st Hive through a winter then making their 1st Double Nuc in year 2...

[pistolpete]

I'm kind of with Apisbees on this one.  I have always seen a Nuc (confined in a box to fit 4 or 5 frames)  as a very temporary arrangement.  More or less just to split and transport the bees and maybe have them in there for a couple of weeks if the weather is still fairly cold.    A good Nuc will expand to fill a 10 frame box in about 5 weeks and 2 10 frame boxes in 8 weeks.   In our region if you start with a good Nuc at the end of May, they are at full colony strength by the middle or end of July and produce 50 to 100 Lbs. of surplus honey by the end of August. 

I have to clarify that the Nucs that I have been dealing with are from John Gates Apiaries and are of very good quality.  He selects frames that are nearly edge to edge brood and shakes in enough bees to fill the nuc box to overflowing.   This results in a Nuc that does not struggle to get going. 

[DonMcJr]

You start the Nucs in July, after the Summer Solstice.  So say you start the queen cells July 1st. It may be possible from a new package...maybe not. The idea of Starting July 1st means the Queen won't be laying until August hence you will be going into the winter with a new young queen and you will also be interrupting that Varroa Mite Cycle since their prime reproductive time will be interrupted since there will be no brood at their peak time.

You must also watch the nucs and if they are getting too populated you remove a frame or 2 of capped brood and if they honey is full extract it or give it to another weaker hive...Both capped brood and honey.

Might take some extra work but if my plan succeeds then you have 2 Nucs the following spring to replace deadouts, expand or sell...

[Zweefer]

Sorry to resurrect a dead thread (?) but curious as to progress?

[tecumseh]

first off Don I would highly suggest you give grafting a try.  like many things at first the task looks daunting but once you have tried it you will wonder why you though of it in that way.  actively queen rearing with so few bees looks like a good receipt for discovering the genetic bottle neck of inbreeding.  you might be able to overcome this simply by sharing genetic material (queen mother and drones mother stock) with some one else close by who hopefully also shares you core objectives (that is stock that will survive your winters).  a larger pool of stock from which to choose queen mothers and drone mother hives would be better.... but this limitation certainly should not be view as something to impede what you will need to learn to feel comfortable with the process (no matter what your choices is in rearing queen cells).

cloake board is a good choice and I see Lee Burrows has been trying a variation on this which is the Hardin method.  you might want to ask him about his experience in using this method.