Making up a 2 Frame Nuc  

Yes. Remember : Re Drones needed ! (Spring to mid Summer) ideal Queen rearing time. 👀 Have you mature Drones for Mating purposes. (Check re your Area / Weather too.) And : if you have a Frame of Brood in all Stages (Eggs, Larva, Capped etc. ) Make sure theirs No Queen on that Frame (in the Transfer to the Nuc !) Add it, to x5 Frame Nuc, either depress the Comb in to make a flat Dent under x1 Day Old Larva (tiniest "Comma" the better !) Or some cut "W" to have downward pointy bit to aid Queen Cell development. Think dents cause less destruction in my opinion. MEMO : Eggs x3 Days from lay, next x1 Day that's your "Lava to choose." 😉 By making a Dent, or cutting Comb slightly away under that Larva, or several Spaced not cells side by side re Larva's, aids the Nurse Bees to Draw "Down" at 90 degree Queen Cells (aka in Shell Peanuts !) MUST check before day x14 from Egg stage :these Queen Cells. (Queens hatch AND can Sting Kill Sister (younger) Queens before they hatch by x15 Day, or true x16th** Day if "one Larva, say, could be hours older** than its sibling !!! Sting-aggedon 👀 happens to any unprotected Cell. So Cut and Move. Or Cage each one ! See below: * Keep "one" as the best (*Harvest and cut out all others for Nucs, or Cut out carefully and add into Roller Cages) on a DIY holder Frame and "bank" them, in same Nuc, until all Hatched: then make more Nucs. Some might not hatch, better to wait then prep Nucs needed (Caged Cells !!!) Tip : Mini Mating Nucs only need a large Cup of Bees. But they grow (could Swarm !) Get your Hatched Virgins Mated, use yourself, or Sell, or give to your Bee Club, to make up Newbie Beek Nucs. 😉 Hope this helps. 😎 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2023 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Better Queen Cells get made if the "Nuc" is stuffed with Nurse Bees (non fliers!) And you feed them loads of 1:1 Syrup, and Pollen. Either Sub and some Syrup. Or a Natural Honey Frame with inbedded Pollen (many Colours) and Bee Bread (Bees spit Nectar and Pollen up, polish it, store it.) See Cells with Sticky Shiney Coloured indented Re stored 'Bee bread'. (Often on edge of Brood Nest.) Both these gets Royal Jelly secreted by Nurse Bees and after x3 Day re Egg, that's what gets more Royal Jelly to become your Queen(s) ! So pre Cell Making, : feed, feed, feed, then add your 'donor' Frame. That way Larva are treated like 'Royalty' ! 👍 Also check x3 Weeks of Weather Before Queen Rearing ! Wet 'when a Cell' = doesn't matter. Wet and Soggy on say x20th Day is disaster Mating situation. So plan Weather, Work, Holiday around "Queen Cell" timing ! 🙃

They are standard castellated spacers. I use long lug frames, so they suit me well. I have used them for well over 50 years. They do get a lot of negative comments, but mainly from people who have never used them. I have never worn a beesuit or tunic in my life, always a simple veil like the one in the video. Only a few suppliers stock them now, but I have acquired a stock of them! You can get similar ones online, but what is important is the ring to keep the mesh away from your face. Some don't have them. Roger

@@rogerpatterson3167 Thank you Roger.

If you are moving them 5km there is no need to use only non-flying bees, as probaly only a few will fly home. I don't feed nucs unless absolutely necessary. You seem to be giving them enough in the combs anyway.

@@rogerpatterson3167 Yes, the idea is that the field force are older and more likely to take out the new queen, the idea to give syrup was not because they need it as they don't but that it might help the nuc accept the mated queen easier and mitigarte them balling her, at rthew cost of these queens I don't want to lose one and have a failed nuc of resorces to deal with. The capped brood would give no options for the nuc to raise an emergency cell, and when hatched build the field force while the queen gets laying. Conditions are currently perfect

I agree with you Tina Califano ants will move your bees out of a hive in a jiffy especially when they find the honey source and other bits they like , new beeks keep ants away from your hives , they are not bees friends, don’t get sloppy leaving ants in your hives if you want to keep bees in them.

Thanks for your comment Marc, which I don’t mind. All my videos are unscripted, so what you see is real beekeeping, not set up for the camera. That apiary is in a very rural area, where it is common to have ants inside roofs and even inside the hives. I don’t think “clumsily” is appropriate, because I didn’t handle roughly or knock the hive about. As I think can be seen, my main concern was to look for the queen on the underside of the crown board. If I had have knocked the ants out, I may have lost the queen if she was there. Roger

@@BIBBA_UK fair point, of course criticism is so very easy and I had very loose keyboard warrior fingers that day 🤣🤣🤣🐝

Just my 2 cents worth here , that’s is I have lost a couple of colonies due to ant infestation, good bye bees then wax moth moves in and takes over the show , my pet hate is ants anywhere near my hives let alone on them or in them , then there is hive beetles , that’s another story I’ll leave for another video lol.

@@fishmut i had luck in Darlington S.C. using peperment candy. Just a idea for hive beetles.