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How to Raise Bees in NUCS

Nucleus hives, or nucs, hold only three to five frames instead of the usual eight to 10 frames of a typical Langstroth hive. What they lack in size, nucs more than make up for in versatility. Unlike package bees which only contain adult bees and a queen, a nuc is a complete hive in miniature. They can be used to establish a new hive, rear queen bees or to artificially split a hive to prevent swarming. Nucs can also be used to strengthen a weak hive.

Things You'll Need

Parent hive containing eggs, brood, honey and pollen stores
Frames with wax foundation or drawn comb
Nuc hive with a bottom board, hive body, inner cover and telescoping outer cover
Bee brush
Hive feeders

Instructions

- 1
  Remove the outer and inner covers from the parent hive. Remove honey supers until you reach the brood chamber.
- 2
  Search the brood chamber for frames with eggs and capped brood. Remove two frames of eggs and one frame of capped brood. Place these three frames in the center of the nuc box.
- 3
  Remove one frame containing honey and pollen from the one of the honey supers in the main hive. Place the frame on one side of the nuc box. Place a frame with wax foundation on the other side of the frames.
- 4
  Select a frame of capped brood from the parent hive. Sweep the bees from this frame into the nuc hive to ensure there are enough nurse bees to care for the brood in the nuc.
- 5
  Place the inner and outer covers on top of the nuc box.
- 6
  Slide the remaining frames in the brood chamber of the parent hive toward the center of the box. Replace the frames you removed with frames containing wax foundation or drawn comb. Add a frame with foundation or drawn comb in the honey super to replace the removed frame. Replace the honey supers and close the parent hive.
- 7
  Feed both the parent hive and the nuc box a 1-1 solution of sugar syrup to encourage the bees to draw out the wax foundation.
- 8
  Maintain the nuc in the same way as a regular-sized hive. Additional supers with frames for honey storage can be added.

Nature