Poly Nuc

Polystyrene Nucleus (14×12; 6 Frames) – Record Card

1st June 2014

31st May 2014

  • 15C, humid
  • Bees pleasant
  • All frames drawn and covered in bees – needs full size hive!
  • Plenty of stores in brood
  • Saw eggs, larvae and capped brood
  • Found Queen and marked her with blue dot – she was huge, no missing her
  • Which Queen was it I wonder? Probably the one from Pete’s hive on 13th April 2014
  • Note: This Queen was born in April/May 2014

17th May 2014

  • Sunny, 18C
  • No eggs, no Queen (that I could see)
  • I think cold weather of the last 6 weeks has stopped queen mating
  • 3 frames of bees
  • 1/2 frame of stores
  • Placed frame with Queen cell from Hive 2 into this hive. This should hatch about 25th May
  • A high pitched squeal (“piping”?) came from the hive as soon as I put the frame with the queen swarm cell in. Does this mean there is a queen in the hive? Or was it because of a few foreign bees on the frame getting into a fight?
  • Plan: Inspect mid June & feed
  • Related post: Bee Inspection: Swarm Cells & No Queens

13-26th April 2014

  • Queen should mate 20 April – 10 May
  • Queen should have hatched out on 18 April
  • Fed 500g of sugar, plus observed lots of bees and bringing in pollen
  • Not sure if bees getting to sugar syrup

13th April 2014

  • 16C, sunny
  • Took empty polystyrene nuc and added two frames of house bees with about 2 capped swarm cells from Pete’s hive
  • Added four other frames some with stores
  • Fed with 500ml thin sugar syrup
  • Timescales. Queen will hatch in less than 6 days (19th April) and has up to three weeks to mate and start laying (by 10th May at the latest). Need 16C during this time for mating flights. First new brood hatching by 31st May.  Hopefully plenty of bees for July nectar flow
  • Did not cull any Queen cells as no time and do not expect so few bees to swarm with a new Queen
  • Plan: inspect on about 10th May for eggs and mark Queen
  • Relevant post: Bees For Free
Maisemore Poly Nuc
Maisemore Poly Nuc

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