Spotty brood could be from hygienic behavior, chalk brood and a few other things.. these frames were empty a little over a week ago with a single small patch of brood the size of a baseball. The expansion shows a lot of missed cells with a mite count of 0 for an either roll 5 days ago, so I suspect age is starting to creep in. However, they will have their chance when the new queens arrive to show that old doesn't mean they are failing.
I would really like to see how far I can take these two queens, but also have to consider that now is not the time. I need to grow a lot and fast for the next two years. If they expand the nuc's well..... I may try to take them another winter in the nuc's. They still have a long hard summer ahead of them.
Mrs River;
I split them into nuc's every year. I may let a well established colony slip two or three weeks without an inspection, but the nuc's, and then the hives they get moved into get inspected every weekend. Often just a quick look to make sure they are not superceding.
Can I gurantee they are the original queens? As of last spring when I split them they still had the remnants of paint on them, so I knew they were the original queens. They still have the discolored spot where the paint was, and I know they did not swarm... That is not to say both were not superseded once they were hived. So, no, I cannot guarantee they are the 4 year old queens, but I am reasonably confident.
Jen, I am not selling nuc's this year, we will see what I have survive the winter. I have two double nuc's built. 4 frames per box on them, with a common divider in the lower box and a single bottom board. The style that will take a normal tele cover.
I have two double nuc's built that use separate boxes as well. They also use a common bottom board, but standard 5 frame nuc boxes sit on that bottom board and they take separate/standard nuc lids.
And I have about fifteen standard 5 frame nuc boxes ready, I will winter them as doubles and wrap them in pairs. We will see what winters best. It is my intention to sell nuc's next year if I have any survive the winter. It is also my intention to raise queens this year to practice. I have only fooled around previously. Come mid June I will be working to perfect my methods in order to raise the best queens I can for the nuc's I sell. iuf nothing else... I can have several small bottles of alcohol on hand to drop unused queens into and sell swarm lure
Not at all PistolPete. The young queens will be the greatest prevention you have toward preventing swarming. I know several beeks who do the exact same thing.
My situation is such that I can do an inspection on any hive every day all day if there is need. Most people do not have that luxury, so taking preventative measures like you speak of are very worthwhile.
