I'm getting two packages a month apart. The first package are Italian bees due on April 18th. I'm thinking of setting them up in a full size hive. They'll have drawn comb, so the queen will be able to start laying right away.
My 2nd package are Buckfast, due to arrive May 12-14. I'm thinking of setting them up in a 4 frame, 3 or 4 story nuc, again with drawn frames.
Assuming that the 1st queen starts laying by the second day...and is productive, is there any reason that on the 3rd or 4th day after receiving the second package that I couldn't split the nuc?
I could replace a frame of eggs and 1 day old larvae from the nuc with a frame of soon to be emerging brood. Put the frame of eggs into another nuc, along with a frame of emerging brood and a frame of honey and pollen and shake some bees in from the first nuc.
Of coarse this plan will be tweaked quite a bit before it's perfected, but I think it could be successful and I should be able to create several nucs by July.