Hello All

Can anybody say approximately how many bees are in a cup full of bees in the
parlance of Apideas?. Or putting the question another way can we relate the
cup full of bees to bees covering frames of say National or Commercial
hives. I am going to use Apideas shortly to try to raise queens. I have
heard some negative comments on these devices but now that I have purchased
two of them I may as well see what they can do.

I got to thinking about what happens when the queen is mated and laying.
Presumably she will have to be introduced to her new abode in much the same
way as a travelled queen, using a Butler Cage or equivalent. And of course
she must be found beforehand and placed in the cage.

What I was wondering about is, what is wrong with having some tiny little
nucs with maybe only two standard frames. These would effectively IMO
duplicate the Apidea, as all you require is a frame or two of food (no brood
of any description),  - in my case British nationals or commercials, and
having as many bees in there are in an Apidea (hence my question at the
beginning). We then have the queen on a normal frame in a nuc which most
texts suggest makes introduction far easier.

Any thoughts on the subject please?

Sincerely

Tom Barrett
49 South Park, Foxrock
Dublin 18
Ireland
Tel + 353 1 289 5269
Fax + 353 1 289 9940