As far as I know there is no major nuc supplier that sends nuc in the mail or ups FedEx and etc.
IMHO..
You can build value into your nuc in the north if they are overwintered in the north and have northern raised queens.I do know a bee Company in New England that sells about 1500 nukes here a year and they come from Louisiana.What I'm trying to tell you need to know what you're buying.
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
Totally agree Jim, the difference in locally bred bees is IMO a much larger issue than most people realize. Here's a first hand account of why I feel that way.
I bought my parent colony from a local guy that had been keeping this lineage for many years, he bred a new daughter every two or three years he said. He said he had made plenty of mistakes but they always made it thru. Here's a little story to illustrate how tough they turned out to be.
Last fall, I took off to go Elk hunting for two weeks in September. My parent hive was strong and heavy, good stores, lots of brood, things were good. Got home from my trip, wandered out to check on the girls...no act ivity on my strongest hive while the others were buzzing away. Noticed a bunch of yellow hackers coming and going, oh oh. Suited up and popped the lid.... total devastation, dead bees completely covered the screen board, not a single cell of brood nor a drop of honey. There was one little cluster of bees that covered about 6 square inches on two faces of comb, maybe a cup, I was shocked to see the queen still alive. I figured they were dead for sure but I'd give them a chance to fight. I yanked the top box leaving them in a single deep, tossed a top feeder on with 2/1. Hung up four yellow jacket traps filled with salmon and let nature take over. This was late September, checked on them four weeks later, they were still kicking and had a couple hundred capped brood cells. Temps were dropping so I pulled the unused syrup and filled both hoppers with drivert sugar and wrapped them with felt paper. I also threw together a plastic house of sorts from old real estate signs to try and keep as much moisture away as possible.
We had a tough winter for our area, several weeks in the teens and months of 30-40 and rain. Today they are alive and building like crazy. Two weeks ago I gad 10 sq inches of capped brood, yesterday I had two full deep frames stuffed wall to wall under the rainbow. Everyone told me I had no chance, not a prayer in the world that they would make it. Not only did they make it, she's running neck and neck with hives that went into winter with a full boat.
I'd say multi generational over wintered bees matter, A LOT!
