Outcomes
Learners will be able to effectively prepare and combine mating nucs to ensure thriving colonies during the winter season.
Key Takeaways
Optimal Winter Preparation: Focus on achieving the right winter weights and cluster size by reviewing weight requirements and assessing brood frame numbers for strong winter clusters, regardless of your hive setup.
Strategic Timing is Key: Combining colonies is a blend of art and science, with timing being crucial. Start the process approximately 8 weeks before freezing nights set in. This timeline allows for meticulous preparation, colony selection, and a smooth combining process.
Feeding for Winter Success: Ensure your colonies have enough stores and pollen for winter survival. Single deep brood box colonies should aim for 80-100 lbs of stores, while double chambers need 140-160 lbs. Maintain a robust winter cluster with 5-7 frames of brood (single chamber) or 10-12 (double chamber) for successful spring brood development
As the queen production season comes to a close, queen breeders find their mating yards teeming with activity. Mating nucs are abundant with honey, bees, and queens. However, the secret to ensuring thriving colonies throughout the winter lies in the strategic combination of these nucs. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll walk you through the essential steps to prepare your colonies for a successful winter.
Optimal Winter Weights and Cluster Size: Before diving into the art of combining mating colonies, it’s crucial to understand the benchmarks for winter success. Whether you have single or double brood chamber colonies, reviewing winter weight requirements and assessing the needed number of brood frames for a strong winter cluster forms the foundation of your preparations.
Combining Mating Colonies: Timing and Strategies: Combining mating colonies is both an art and a science. Timing plays a pivotal role in this process. The timeline begins approximately 8 weeks before freezing nights set in. This gives you ample time to ensure colony combination, inspect for queen presence, feed the combined colony, and administer any required treatments.
When combining colonies, follow these detailed steps:
Preparation: Set up a single colony with reducers and a syrup feeding system. Ensure the colony is guarded against robbing.
Selecting Colonies: Choose nucs with compatible strengths, brood, honey, and pollen stores. Ensure each nuc has a queen.
Combining Process: Use a sugar water spray on both nucs to promote bonding. If necessary, place one queen in a queen cage between the frames of the combined nucs. The gradual release of the queen reduces aggression.
Feeding Considerations and Pollen Storage: Feeding is a vital component of winter preparation. The goal is to achieve ideal winter weights and pollen stores to sustain the colony through the colder months. Colonies in a single deep brood box require 80-100 lbs of stores, while those in double chambers need 140-160 lbs. Additionally, having a strong winter cluster is vital for spring brood development. Aiming for 5-7 frames of brood in a single chamber or 10-12 in a double chamber is recommended.
Conclusion: Combining mating nucs is a skill that goes beyond mere colony fusion—it involves meticulous timing and careful considerations. Remember to synchronize your queen cell drop and queen pull schedules, check feeders for leaks, guard against robbing, and ensure an adequate pollen storage solution. By following these steps, you set your colonies on the path to thriving through winter and thriving in the upcoming beekeeping season.
