Mating Nuclei : 13
Points noted in my original Warnholz mini- nucs (some have been corrected since) and my modifi cations
• Separate food compartment unnecessary. • Cut out the separator and make room for two more frames. • A separate container (cut down two-pint plastic carton) can hold the food.
• Just jamming the roof on after stocking with bees is a bad idea.
• Top bee space (wooden rim) and an inner cover (plastic card) need to be added.
• With top bee space, the inner cover can be slid on, which avoids crushing too many bees.
• The sliding entrance underneath is an invitation for bees to propolise it up.
• Ventilation is required at all times. • The front entrance has some advantages. • Paint the body and roof, to preserve and guide bees (especially the virgin queen) back to the hive.
• Take care to use paint that will not attack the Styrofoam.
New materials and several modifi cations have led to a number of similar apparatuses. In 1981, I purchased 500
Warnholz mini-nucs from Germany; it seemed a good idea at the time. This was suffi cient incentive, for me, to make them work. As purchased, I found several points that could be improved upon to make them functional (see box above). I fi nd this with a lot of equipment that can be purchased.
Stocking Mini-nucs
Originally, bees were thrown into a container, doused with water, scooped up with a cup and dumped into the mini-nuc. Even when the method was refi ned to using a fi ne water spray and a Fray Bentos tin welded to a metal rod, I felt the method was crude. I also felt sorry for the bees. I moved on to shaking a frame of bees into a nucleus box and pouring them into the mini-nuc. My friend, Ray Sussex, eventually came up with the collecting box I now use. It is made to take any sized frame.
May 2015 Vol 97 No 5
The bees are shaken in and the device is bumped on its end (corner) to send the bees into a mass at the bottom. They can then be poured into the mini-nuc, through the shoot, by upturning the box. A single British Standard National frame of bees is about suffi cient to stock the mini-nuc. This is a great generalisation and only experience will tell you how many bees is enough. Too many and they can suffocate, too few and they may not be able to look after the virgin queen. A queen breeder I worked with in France used a weighing scale to give a precise quantity of bees. I have never had to resort to this. I prefer to work on my own but I am sure that two people can do a good job provided they do not get in each other’s way (have a rehearsal fi rst without the bees). An accessible water spray can be a help if the bees take off.
The stocked mini-nuc is kept closed and undisturbed in a dark, cool place for at least two days. It can then be set out in its position in the mating apiary where the
queen will mate. The entrance should only be opened in the evening to release the bees.
Considerations
• Queenless bees, free of drones, to stock the mini-nuc can be obtained as described in last month’s article on cell raising. The bees in the swarm box itself are ideal for stocking mini-nucs.
• If the mini-nuc is placed in an upturned roof, it will help to catch spillages.
• The sugar should not be made into a soup. Merely damp is suffi cient. If it is not dampened, the bees may ignore it and starve. They need the carbohydrates so they can build comb from the wax starters given. On no account would I use liquid sugar syrup.
• On hot days when there is a fl ow on, everything gets sticky. Work in the early morning.
• Obviously, with the very fi rst mini-nuc, there will be no drawn comb available. In this case the queen cell can be put into a cell protector and pinned to the wall.
• Do not make the mistake of fi lling the mini-nuc with fully drawn combs. Make the bees draw out the starter foundation.
Mini-nucs
Advantages • Economical; they only use a handful of bees. • Cheap to purchase or make if necessary. • Queens generally mate more quickly from mini-nucs. • They are small enough to transport easily. • They can be kept at home unnoticed. • They can yield up to four queens a year (average 2.5). Disadvantages • They need constant attention. • Because there are not a lot of bees, things can go wrong: • starvation • absconding • overcrowding if the queen is allowed to let the unit build up.
www.bee-craft.com 2 1
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Modifi cations to the Warnholz mini-nuc (from the top) 1 Original hive with entrance open, ventilation closed
2 Original hive with entrance closed, ventilation open
3 Modifi ed hive with permanent ventilation and foam closure 4 Wooden rim for top bee space
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