>
> >I would challenge anyone to come here and make nucs and expect to rear a
> honey crop in the same season.


Ditto where I live--we could pull perhaps two nucs from a strong colony
returning from almond pollination in late March to thwart swarming, and
expect them to build up for winter, but without producing any surplus
honey.  The remaining parent hive recovers enough to put on a crop during
our main flow from mid May through the end of June.

When I used to move all my hives to irrigated alfalfa the first week of
July, that gave enough time for each colony to be split 4 ways in late
March, and then for each nuc to build enough in its first single deep to
draw and fill a second deep solid with honey within about 10 days on the
alfalfa bloom.

It's all about the time required for colony growth, and the timing and
duration of the main nectar flows.

Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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