> several methods (of queen rearing) ... I have been researching.
>
> One method ... took (a) frame with young eggs and larva, making sure
> the queen wasn't on (it), moved it above the brood nest with a queen
> excluder between the two....
 
This is very akin to the Snelgrove method (SGM), with the difference
being that in the SGM, the queen excluder would have been replaced by
a Snelgrove Board (double screen board - SGB) a day or two after the
original manipulations.  If the QE had been replaced with a SGB, the
upper hive body essentailly becomes it's own hive, which benefits from
the heat rising from the hive below it.  The top hive could have been
left undisturbed from that point on, allowing a new queen to hatch, mate
and begin laying.  Furthermore, the multiple openings in the SGB allow the
beekeeper to open and close different entrances/exits to allow the bees
in the now separate brood chambers to come and go into the hive body of
the beekeepers choice, thereby using the bees from one or the other
to augment the population most needing the extra bees.
 
> starting grafts tomorrow...
Probably fine for New Mexico, advice to the gentleman from Minnesota is
to wait for the weather to get better.  For northern climes, it's better
to purchase queens for early splits and wait for more favorably weather
to raise your own.  There is a very good article in this month's "Bee
Culture" titled "Setting Up a Nuc Operation" offering good advice.
Unfortunately it's not online.
 
Remember when starting grafts to use very young larvae, less that two
days old.  I discovered that if I can see it I can't graft it.  Larva of
the proper age are VERY small.
 
> 20 3 # packages of bees >--> 60 1# nucs or 120 1/2# nucs.
Well, that's pushin' it in my opinion, REALLY pushin' it!  As Allen
pointed out, you'd probably have better success letting the bees build
up and then making nucs from them after they've established themselves.
It probably won't get you to the point you want to be as fast as you
seem to want to get there, but better to go slow successfully than
rush into disaster.
 
> worse that could happen would be to reunite the nucs with the original
> packages and be back to the beginning...
No, the worse that could happen is that you end up with less than you
started!  If one or more of your mini nucs fail, you will (could) end up
with a dink of a nuc that has next to nothing to offer to hive which
receives it.
 
> little loss of time and an increase in experience.
'Spensive lessons from the school of hard knocks!
 
> I also hope to experiment with a multi queen system.
Again I recommend reading Snelgrove.  You can let the packages get
established while the weather improves, implement the SGM so you have
queen right chambers both above and below the honey supers that you
sandwich in between.  And again, by using the multiple entrances and
exits in the SGB, you can add the bees from the top colony to the honey
producing bottom colony by simply throwing a lever!  You will have your
two queen colony and you will have a brood chamber of young bees ideal
for making nucs or useable as a nuc for overwintering or combining with
the colony below, however circumstances dictate after Murphy has had his
say.
 
> By this, I plan to continue taking bees I shake from my strong hives
> on a periodic basis....
Again, read Snelgrove (starting to sound like a suggestion here?).  Why
shake when you can simply open or close (actually, open AND close) an
entrance.  You're reinventing an old method (dating mid-1930s) that
fell out of favor because it requires an extra piece of equipment (the
Snelgrove board).
 
> I have a great desire to expand my inventory of hives...  (If I)
> divide to make increase I sacrafice honey....
Again I offer that you may want to slow down a bit.  If you don't
proceed as quickly (rashly?) you can make your increases AND produce
honey.  Without DRASTIC divides you can still split off hives this year,
produce your crop, successfully overwinter more hives this year so you
will have move hives to split next year.  And you will get a feel for
the larger operation as you build to see if you are actually able to
manage the size you envision.  Better to wade out slowly than to jump
in over your head and drown!  (Let me see, that makes two cliches in a
single post, am I over quota?).
 
> hoping and praying that the small details will work themselves out.
Not a good strategy!  10-50 hives currently?  If you're buying packages
I guess it's closer to 10 than 50.  If it's closer to 50 you should be
spending your money on queens and using your own hives to provide the
bees.
 
> It is my desire to increase my hives to 250 this season then to 1,000
> by next year.
Doable, but drastic.  If you go for it, best of luck to you!
However, haste makes waste (3!)
Look before you leap (4!!)
and if you still go fot it, "Beware what you wish for 'cause you just
might get it! (5!!!)
 
Good luck!
 
Aaron Morris - thinking I've broken the cliche record!
 
PS: For more details on the SGM, send a single line of mail to:
        [log in to unmask]
that reads
        GETPOST BEE-L 17749