This year I was planning to work with nucs as an experiment and to expand my knowledge base. The plan was to use nuc boxes as swarm boxes, small splits and working with new queens. So far it has been a complete failure, all three swarms which I caught in the nucs absconded, the two nucs which I set up with new queens were wiped out by carpenter ants (I saved one queen) and the last attempt to set up a nuc ended up with a major Small Hive Beetle problem. Oh did I mention the ongoing problem with robbers from outside my beeyard, boy there is a real agressively robbing hive somewhere in my neighborhood which just loves nucs. At least there hasn't been any lightening or tornados in the bee yard yet this year :).
On the high side I learned a lot about problems working with small nucs and keeping them going in a hostile enviroment. I haven't given up yet, I'm just getting tired of having bees and frames of brood wiped out and depleating the resources of my big hives trying to keep the nucs up and running.
Part of the experiment did work, pulling frames of brood helped keep swarming down and it looks like I'm sitting on a good honey crop. With any luck I'll pick up a swarm or two by the end of the year, I'll need more room in the bee yard along with more equipment if more than two swarms come my way.
Topic: The Score so Far (Read 1049 times)