The frame I gave them for making queens is mixed ages of brood but there
are plenty young enough to make a queen and a large amount of nurse bees
shaken in, not really many eggs. Some of the queens I took out of the big
hives that I am holding in the bank are three years old, white dot on there
thorax, so I do not want them to winter over the nuc. I hope to sell some
of these nucs early spring so I don't have old queens in them. Also some
queens are from swarms, I keep good records and I have found I loose a hive
though the winter more often if I do not requeen a swarm so I prefer not to
winter a swarm queen, they are not swarms from my hives. If I do not see
queen cells or I feel they are poor quality when I get back home I will use
queen cells ready to emerge just after I get home, my back up plan.

I am trying divided hives to winter nucs, I split deep and medium 10 frame
boxes with Masonite. So there are 20 splits, 10 frames each. The weather
delayed me getting them going so I am ten days later starting than I marked
on the calendar when I planned this last winter. So it is ending up
happening right when I am going away for a week. I will leave them as they
are and check for cells when I get back, use the back up virgins if I need
to. Though the weather has been bad I am having great success with getting
queens bred they must be flying in the rain and fog. The splits have plenty
of food on them, syrup and pollen sub patties, so they are set for the
week. I also have nucs in five frame boxes I am going to winter over on top
of big hives with a double screen between. I am figuring out the best way
to winter over nucs in my yard, easiest for me and most success for the
bees. I have been wintering over nucs in two five frame boxes then I push
them together in groups and warp them in Dec but I don't like the whole
process so I am trying something different.

Karen

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