> Will a 4 frame nuc create a good queen, or are they
> just too small and weak to do the job?

Well, we thrashed this topic over pretty well last year.  You probably remember
the controversy, and I'll assume you may have done some recent browsing in the
archives to refresh the points that were made by both sides on this issue.

By now, we have now had time to let things settle a bit, and I'll try to
summarise my understanding.  You may draw out some other points of view as well.
There are some reasons that one might wish to purchase a queen, especially now
that the Russian bees are showing promise and will be released for breeding, but
if you have good bees, there is just as good reason to stick with them, and you
will have the satisfaction of knowing your queen is well raised if you are
scrupulous in selecting the parent hive(s) and in paying attention to the
signals your bees give you.

I think that the long and the short of it is this:

Such a nuc can do a very nice job under the following circumstances:

* The bees must be of a sort that will start cells
  readily and maintain them

* The bees must be healthy and well fed at all times

* The eggs or larvae to make queens must come from
  hives that have plenty of feed

* There must be lots of young bees

* The weather must be settled enough that the bees can
  maintain a comfortable hive and the queen can mate

* There must be plenty of mature drones when the
  queen is ready to mate

* The drones must be from hives with desirable traits.

Don't try to start before some of your hives have a good number of drones sealed
and well under way.  That is a good indicator of good nutritional status and
guarantees drone availability.

Uncap a few and check for varroa before you count on your drones being numerous
and being able to stand at stud.  More and more the limiting factor in raising
good queens is coming down to the drones available.

allen
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>
> Thanks all!
> Scott
>