>Many hobby beekeepers end up buying "leftovers" from commercials...old junk equipment and culled queens that fetch high prices as so-called "nucs".

I cannot speak for any other nuc producer but....the queens in mine are the current season, they have been laying in that nuc for a minimum of 4 weeks and the frames are rarely any older than 3 years. We move everything from my boxes to the customer's in my yard...making sure to see the queen and everything else they are getting.
I suppose all I can say is...that like so many other things....choose your supplier carefully.

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