bjorn apiaries

[bhough]

Dear Friends,

I have an exciting experience to share with you and a few questions as well.  I bought my first nuc from a local guy a few months ago and unfortunately, it didn't go so well.  I think he sold me a queenless nuc, or at least one infected with hive beetle.  I don't think he meant well, he just wasn't that attentive to detail.

Instead of giving up, I drove halfway across the state to Harrisburg, PA to buy a nuc from Mike at  Bjorn apiaries.  Mike spent an hour with me showing me stuff, showed me his queen rearing operation and sold me a nuc that I can only describe as true craftsmanship.  The bees were beautiful.  (After I told my wife this, she said, "What do you mean, do they look different?")  By that I mean there were 100s of eggs laid, newly laid foundation, capped brood and honey in a gorgeous pine box.  $95 including the box ($70 without).

So two weeks ago I brought them home and have been watching them closely.  I checkerboarded the nuc frames with my empty frames per Mike's instruction.  Tonight when I looked in the box, there were supercedure cells on several frames!  Additionally, there was no foundation laid down on the empty frames.   So I added a second deep and split the frames with brood and supercedure cells between my big hive and the nuc. 

My question is, am I right in understanding I should that I should add a deep and split the brood?  Additionally, what can I do to encourage them to lay down foundation?

Thanks!  I'm off to re-read Michael Bush's supercedure FAQ.
b

[Zoot]

Sorry to hear of your apparent misfortune. Mike runs an extremely solid operation. I've been following his work with russian queens, mite resistance, wintering, etc.

When you say "watching them closely" does that mean you opened the nuc frequently? For what it's worth, I am certain my bees balled and killed a queen last year due to me being overly curious with that particular hive. Just a thought. Also, not sure that adding another deep at this point (with undrawn frames in the nuc) will accomplish anything.

[Zoot]

bhough,

A correction here:  I shouldn't have assumed right off that you are experiencing ill fortune. If your queen is still alive and well then I wouldn't worry. 4 of my 5 hives make queen cells on occasion and I've come to accept it as part of their normal behavior.

[super dave]

i also bought a nuc from mike at Bjorn apiaries-- i got a box just packed with bees , healthy and fast growing-- really a great price for what you get-- here is one of the frames

 

the only problem with those russian bees is they are hard to understand with that heavy accent

[BeeHopper]

Nice  :-D

[asprince]

Large opening in the legs of those shorts! You are much more brave than I am. Nice looking frame of bees!

Steve

[thegolfpsycho]

I'm not really clear on what you did?  You transferred your nuc to a deep, then added a super because they hadn't drawn out the foundation?  Then you split the brood?  Unless you want a swarm engine, move the entrie nuc to a deep, let them fill the deep 75 to 80% with brood, nectar, pollen, then add the second hive body.  SPlitting up a nuc size colony just retards their growth, unless you are splitting them just for numbers.  If the nuc is full, and you don't want to move them to a full size colony, you can feed a couple frames of foundation back into it and pull the outside frame of honey.  The goal is to have boxes full of bees.  They make more honey, keep their hives more pest free.  I would suggest that a box full of bees, be it nuc, or medium, or deep, is healthier than a couple 3 or 4 frame colonys.  You can add a division board to a deep, and just keep moving the board over as they crowd up.  Allows them to manage their space, again... healthier for them.

[bhough]

I agree it sounds a little crazy to put a nuc into a deep box and then put a few frames back into a nuc weeks later, but I felt obligated to do something since I thought the swarm cells implied an impending swarm.  I guess the danger is that two smaller hives are less likely to winter safely than one large hive.  I was jus concerned that I was about to lose 1/2 of my bees if they were planning to fly away--this way I have 2 halves instead of just one half.

Is that thinking incorrect?
b

[thegolfpsycho]

Having split them, with queen cells, I would probably give them a chance to build up.  But I would be looking at combining them if they don't seem to be doing too well.  I don't know your flows and how long winter waits to attack, but I would be thinking of putting the feed bag on them in the fall and let them keep building up as long as possible and socking away as much stores as possible.  I would also use a division board to reduce the size of the deep to something manageable for the half you put in there, moving the board over as they need room.  If they seem weak, just do a newspaper combine.