Just started this year making use of the mini mating nucs, get them ready during the spring and they are ready to take swarm or supersedure cells. Lots of quality information in this vid. Thanks
😅 The timing of this couldn't have been better 😂 I was just literally thinking about making a mini nuc to get a queen or two raised, two of the hobbyists I'm helping just had a run of bad luck with a neighbouring orchard spraying and lost queens and colonies 😬 queens in southern New Zealand are blasted expensive especially for a small hobbyist with a couple of hives so I'll raise a couple of queens from my stocks to give them but I was just thinking it would be great to just have a mini nuc to raise queens in for it and you put this video up😂 brilliant 👍😃 quick question if you know, what's the reasoning behind keeping the mini nuc in the dark for a few days? Great video 👍👋😃
Unless they Answers back directly. It's probably to keep them 'Calm' allowing them to Settle & Orientate with each other. (No Fighting etc !) Bees Cannot "See within the Hive" all Communication is via Touch, or Vibration, eg a Waggle Dance, etc. . . 😎 Bees here in Scotland 🏴 don't leave the Hive in Temps above say 10C (50F) if it Dark & Grey overcast Day ! By Replicating this 'Dark, Cool, Closed up Hive, (do ensure good Ventilation is still OK.) By using say Fine Mesh Pinned (Tacked) over the Entrance. . . The Bees 'within' will slowly 'Form Communication & Bond as a Collective Collection of Bees. Who will be 'Trying to workout a new Calm Society ' from a case of Chaos ! 🙄 By 'Harvesting' Worker Bees from Several Colonies* The 'Greater Good' of one Bee "Fighting" another in the line of Hierarchy will be Diminished or Stop all together*. Harmony Rules ! Worker Bees can do this, even when no 'actual Queen' is in Residency (!) You can even Buy 'Faux Queen' Phremone Vials, to 'Stop' Workers becoming Drone Layers... if there are no viable 'Queens Eggs' left, to make their own Queen Cells. Their 'Replace Majesty's' 👑 ! Tip 1. Alternative:to Mating Nucs. 👀 Say if you only have say x1 Hive (You can do a Split* off it.) Bees will be Sourced including the 'Original Queen*' this is known as an 'Artificial Swarm.' Where the Beek "Controls" the process ! 😉 Tip 2. Or if there are enough Resources : Bees In all Stages (BIAS) A Beek can take say x2 Frames of more Bees (these don't have the earlier Split Queen) BUT if they have Pollen (Protein) Honey in Cells, or Capped (Carbohydrates.) Have 'Viable 0 to 3 Day Old Queen Laid Eggs : can make their own "New Queen" from several QC's ! Do Remember to control how and who Hatches first (!) Either Add a 'QC' to another Nuc, (or Bank those Q'C's inside little vented Cages) x1 QC to each Cage. And these are 'Held Apart by Gaps, so "Nurse Bees" can Nuture & Feed these Newly Born still 'Caged' "Virgin Queens". Best to Sell On, add into Nucs, or Mating Nucs, by say within x5 Days. VQ's need 'Mating' ASAP. And, if Weather is poor, that 'Mating' could be delayed further. Get the picture. . . 😖 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2024 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 The 'Original Colony' will have "more" Resources in their Hive, to make "Queen Cells" aka many Queens ! At one time ! * If the Beek can Time the process exactly "These QC's" can be 'Harvested' and then managed so no one Older VQ (first Virgin Queen to Emerge from her Cell) can "go about" and Kill her later 'Sisters !' Queen Cells are usually Sealed on the '9th Day' from Egg ! And 'Hatch on the 16th Day.' So a Beek can "Cut a QC out of a Comb WITH a Good Margin of Wax around it. (Eg x1 Inch Sq.) And then Safely, away from the Hive, Trim this down so the Queen Cell can be 'carefully' Pressed into a 'Cut' Out Hole in the 'Receiving' Hive Comb ! (Hopelessly Queenless Colony !) This can be as quick as say x20 Mins, if your an Experienced Beek. 😄 But best to leave alone say for x24Hrs or so. Get really HLQL!) After more than x36hrs, these Bees 'could' start making their own 'Queen Cells'. Becomes complicated to sort out !!! Process : No problem if they are "lovely." But if you want 'Nicer Traits' or a Type of Queen, say a Calmer, more Prolific Honey Maker, a QC from that Genetics 'needs to be added into this HLQL Hive. Ge the idea. . . 🙃
Ps. I would of thought ' Big Agri' would need to "Notify" their Local Dept of Farming etc. . . So Beeks near by 'Could Feed' and "Close up their Hives" say the Night BEFORE 'Spraying of Pesticides' !?! 🤔 Know in the UK Beeks can 'Register' their Bees (by Postcode / Zipcode in US) So Farmers can 'Notify" Hive Owners of pending "Spraying'. Awful that your Friends "Bees" got 'killed' in when it could of been Prevented ! 😢
@@ME_MeAndMyBees okay, great in depth answer. Im a little experienced, 😂 i've been beekeeping for forty years and I teach hobbyist beekeepers in southern New Zealand. You cannot to my knowledge purchase artificial queen pheromone here, I assume you are referring to QMP strips, I've heard of people using them in the as a emergency stopgap overseas especially in the united states during requeening to buy time but not in New Zealand, and it's not relevant to my situation. I have queen raising colonies but I've been considering using something smaller that I can keep as queen raising small colonies without having to commit a entire deep colony too, I buy queens but I also raise my own👍😃
Just started this year making use of the mini mating nucs, get them ready during the spring and they are ready to take swarm or supersedure cells.
Lots of quality information in this vid. Thanks
Very informative video... and lovely knowledgeable people too..
Nice 👍🏻 job
Enjoying the videos in Louisiana USA 🇺🇸
😅 The timing of this couldn't have been better 😂 I was just literally thinking about making a mini nuc to get a queen or two raised, two of the hobbyists I'm helping just had a run of bad luck with a neighbouring orchard spraying and lost queens and colonies 😬 queens in southern New Zealand are blasted expensive especially for a small hobbyist with a couple of hives so I'll raise a couple of queens from my stocks to give them but I was just thinking it would be great to just have a mini nuc to raise queens in for it and you put this video up😂 brilliant 👍😃 quick question if you know, what's the reasoning behind keeping the mini nuc in the dark for a few days? Great video 👍👋😃
Unless they Answers back directly. It's probably to keep them 'Calm' allowing them to Settle & Orientate with each other. (No Fighting etc !)
Bees Cannot "See within the Hive" all Communication is via Touch, or Vibration, eg a Waggle Dance, etc. . . 😎
Bees here in Scotland 🏴 don't leave the Hive in Temps above say 10C (50F) if it Dark & Grey overcast Day !
By Replicating this 'Dark, Cool, Closed up Hive, (do ensure good Ventilation is still OK.)
By using say Fine Mesh Pinned (Tacked) over the Entrance. . .
The Bees 'within' will slowly 'Form Communication & Bond as a Collective Collection of Bees. Who will be 'Trying to workout a new Calm Society ' from a case of Chaos ! 🙄
By 'Harvesting' Worker Bees from Several Colonies*
The 'Greater Good' of one Bee "Fighting" another in the line of Hierarchy will be Diminished or Stop all together*. Harmony Rules !
Worker Bees can do this, even when no 'actual Queen' is in Residency (!) You can even Buy 'Faux Queen' Phremone Vials, to 'Stop' Workers becoming Drone Layers... if there are no viable 'Queens Eggs' left, to make their own Queen Cells. Their 'Replace Majesty's' 👑 !
Tip 1.
Alternative:to Mating Nucs. 👀
Say if you only have say x1 Hive (You can do a Split* off it.)
Bees will be Sourced including the 'Original Queen*' this is known as an 'Artificial Swarm.' Where the Beek "Controls" the process ! 😉
Tip 2.
Or if there are enough Resources : Bees In all Stages (BIAS) A Beek can take say x2 Frames of more Bees (these don't have the earlier Split Queen) BUT if they have Pollen (Protein) Honey in Cells, or Capped (Carbohydrates.) Have 'Viable 0 to 3 Day Old Queen Laid Eggs : can make their own "New Queen" from several QC's ! Do Remember to control how and who Hatches first (!)
Either Add a 'QC' to another Nuc, (or Bank those Q'C's inside little vented Cages)
x1 QC to each Cage. And these are 'Held Apart by Gaps, so "Nurse Bees" can Nuture & Feed these Newly Born still 'Caged' "Virgin Queens".
Best to Sell On, add into Nucs, or Mating Nucs, by say within x5 Days. VQ's need 'Mating' ASAP. And, if Weather is poor, that 'Mating' could be delayed further. Get the picture. . . 😖
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
Happy Beekeeping 2024
🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝
The 'Original Colony' will have "more" Resources in their Hive, to make "Queen Cells" aka many Queens ! At one time !
* If the Beek can Time the process exactly "These QC's" can be 'Harvested' and then managed so no one Older VQ (first Virgin Queen to Emerge from her Cell) can "go about" and Kill her later 'Sisters !'
Queen Cells are usually Sealed on the '9th Day' from Egg !
And 'Hatch on the 16th Day.'
So a Beek can "Cut a QC out of a Comb WITH a Good Margin of Wax around it. (Eg x1 Inch Sq.) And then Safely, away from the Hive, Trim this down so the Queen Cell can be 'carefully' Pressed into a 'Cut' Out Hole in the 'Receiving' Hive Comb ! (Hopelessly Queenless Colony !) This can be as quick as say x20 Mins, if your an Experienced Beek. 😄 But best to leave alone say for x24Hrs or so. Get really HLQL!) After more than x36hrs, these Bees 'could' start making their own 'Queen Cells'. Becomes complicated to sort out !!!
Process :
No problem if they are "lovely."
But if you want 'Nicer Traits' or a Type of Queen, say a Calmer, more Prolific Honey Maker, a QC from that Genetics 'needs to be added into this HLQL Hive. Ge the idea. . . 🙃
Ps.
I would of thought ' Big Agri' would need to "Notify" their Local Dept of Farming etc. . .
So Beeks near by 'Could Feed' and "Close up their Hives" say the Night BEFORE 'Spraying of Pesticides' !?! 🤔
Know in the UK Beeks can 'Register' their Bees (by Postcode / Zipcode in US) So Farmers can 'Notify" Hive Owners of pending "Spraying'.
Awful that your Friends "Bees" got 'killed' in when it could of been Prevented ! 😢
It will stop them absconding 😊
@@gwenyngruffydd 😳woah, really 😳 ok I'm definitely trying that then😂
@@ME_MeAndMyBees okay, great in depth answer. Im a little experienced, 😂 i've been beekeeping for forty years and I teach hobbyist beekeepers in southern New Zealand. You cannot to my knowledge purchase artificial queen pheromone here, I assume you are referring to QMP strips, I've heard of people using them in the as a emergency stopgap overseas especially in the united states during requeening to buy time but not in New Zealand, and it's not relevant to my situation. I have queen raising colonies but I've been considering using something smaller that I can keep as queen raising small colonies without having to commit a entire deep colony too, I buy queens but I also raise my own👍😃
I can see hog weed behind him in the nuc yard. Is that a good forage for bees? Also can the sheep eat it?
That’s meadowsweet not hogweed 😊