As others have said leave them in for 3 days in a dark cool place before opening up. I’ve tried adding QCs immediately and also after 3 days - no difference in success rate - mine’s seems to be around 50%. Also you should put in the small red plastic queen excluder that normally comes with the Apideas otherwise the queen will lay in the comb that’s in the feeder.
Great video, look forward to the update. As you say, the weather this year has not helped, but it's always swings and roundabouts, things can only get better!😊
Cheers, I have put another batch in. I’ve found a lot more success with the Apidea’s compared to the other mating nuc. Maybe because they are smaller…? However the weather has been awful
Great video, I've had similar issues to this, so it's good to see others in the same boat. Will keep trying and not give up. I think I met you on a queen rearing course in Rotherham a few years ago? Your face looks familiar. Keep doing the videos, I find it really interesting 👍🐝
I think you asked a question about lime honey, many years ago I had four hives at the lime trees 3 buckfast 1 black bees. The black bees were the only one to fill the supers with lime. Best honey ever.
Thanks for that, it’s an old estate with an avenue of limes but I’ve heard it doesn’t always give a good flow, we got nothing from them last year but the lead up to it last year was very dry, complete opposite this year so I’m hoping for something. Maybe a couple of weeks from flowering though
Hi. Definitely better or easier if you move them to another yard miles away. The other option is first to make sure you know what day the cells emerge and set them the day before, not multiple days before. On the first day you set the nucs outside put them on the opposite side of the yard. Not the spot where you will keep them. Let them fly for the day and that night after dark move them to the spot they will stay. You will be able to see how many bees stay put then. This way the older bees will fly back home during the day and not know where to find them the next morning, because you moved them and they are robbing the location more than understanding the box itself. Hopefully I’m explaining this correctly. Also shaking the bees off open brood combs is best. That’s where the younger bees hang out.
That seemed like a hell of a lot of nurse bees you poured into that micro, half as much would have done fine.Of course, crap weather will wreck the best plans. Personally, I use a six frame medium nuc, 1 frame of brood 1 frame of food, 1 shake of nurse bees and four frames of foundation.
Really good, honest video. I find the mini mating nucs tricky, plus this spring has been terrible for queen rearing. If it was all plan sailing, what would we learn.
Weather has been terrible, appreciate the feedback like it said on the video I nearly scraped it, but it’s pointless portraying things are fine all the time when actually it quite often goes wrong
If you shake your bees from the supers then you don’t have the hassle of wondering if the queen made it into the Apidea plus these bees are the younger non-flying bees that won’t abscond back to the original hive. Leaving them in a cool, dark shed for 48 hours, spraying with a fine mist of water through the vents every 6 hours or so will bind them as a colony before you open them up. The weather’s been pants for Queen mating so don’t lose heart if they’re not laying just yet🐝🏴👍
I find all these mini nuc systems to be too fiddly, I hope to upload a video on my queen rearing method in a couple of weeks. Would love some feeedback. Great Vids. Thanks
I'm in keighley area of Yorkshire and I'm wanting to get into beekeeping but im finding it very hard to find some land to use to get going do you know anywhere in the area that I'd be able to rent some land to use for beekeeping?
Absconding bees🤔 Robbing bees🤔 Sounds vaguely familiar😆 A man who has never made a mistake Has never made anything😆 Better luck next time Hope you're well🤗
I will take the easy option and buy my queens in. Andy, any plans to raise some Caucasian queens? I've got a couple now and they are thriving, whereas my Buckfast and AMM bees are struggling. I've been working on Pateley Moor for the last week and there are no signs of wild honeybees, so I'm thinking Of swapping out for Caucasians.
Thanks 😊4 keeping it real
That was a cool twist. Thanks for sharing your experience so we don't have to....😮
Glad you enjoyed it!
As others have said leave them in for 3 days in a dark cool place before opening up. I’ve tried adding QCs immediately and also after 3 days - no difference in success rate - mine’s seems to be around 50%. Also you should put in the small red plastic queen excluder that normally comes with the Apideas otherwise the queen will lay in the comb that’s in the feeder.
Great video, look forward to the update. As you say, the weather this year has not helped, but it's always swings and roundabouts, things can only get better!😊
I have lots of mating nucs set up and the weather has been so bad I haven’t bothered yet. Well done good vid.
Cheers, I have put another batch in. I’ve found a lot more success with the Apidea’s compared to the other mating nuc. Maybe because they are smaller…? However the weather has been awful
Great video, I've had similar issues to this, so it's good to see others in the same boat. Will keep trying and not give up. I think I met you on a queen rearing course in Rotherham a few years ago? Your face looks familiar. Keep doing the videos, I find it really interesting 👍🐝
I seem to have failed quite a bit on trying to raise queens this year,just keep trying and learning from our mistakes....
I had a similar experience! Glad to see I ain’t the only one lol! Thanks for sharing
I think you asked a question about lime honey, many years ago I had four hives at the lime trees 3 buckfast 1 black bees. The black bees were the only one to fill the supers with lime. Best honey ever.
Thanks for that, it’s an old estate with an avenue of limes but I’ve heard it doesn’t always give a good flow, we got nothing from them last year but the lead up to it last year was very dry, complete opposite this year so I’m hoping for something. Maybe a couple of weeks from flowering though
Hi. Definitely better or easier if you move them to another yard miles away. The other option is first to make sure you know what day the cells emerge and set them the day before, not multiple days before. On the first day you set the nucs outside put them on the opposite side of the yard. Not the spot where you will keep them. Let them fly for the day and that night after dark move them to the spot they will stay. You will be able to see how many bees stay put then. This way the older bees will fly back home during the day and not know where to find them the next morning, because you moved them and they are robbing the location more than understanding the box itself. Hopefully I’m explaining this correctly. Also shaking the bees off open brood combs is best. That’s where the younger bees hang out.
Thanks for the advice I’ll definitely do it differently next time
That seemed like a hell of a lot of nurse bees you poured into that micro, half as much would have done fine.Of course, crap weather will wreck the best plans. Personally, I use a six frame medium nuc, 1 frame of brood 1 frame of food, 1 shake of nurse bees and four frames of foundation.
Really good, honest video. I find the mini mating nucs tricky, plus this spring has been terrible for queen rearing. If it was all plan sailing, what would we learn.
Weather has been terrible, appreciate the feedback like it said on the video I nearly scraped it, but it’s pointless portraying things are fine all the time when actually it quite often goes wrong
If you shake your bees from the supers then you don’t have the hassle of wondering if the queen made it into the Apidea plus these bees are the younger non-flying bees that won’t abscond back to the original hive.
Leaving them in a cool, dark shed for 48 hours, spraying with a fine mist of water through the vents every 6 hours or so will bind them as a colony before you open them up.
The weather’s been pants for Queen mating so don’t lose heart if they’re not laying just yet🐝🏴👍
I find all these mini nuc systems to be too fiddly, I hope to upload a video on my queen rearing method in a couple of weeks. Would love some feeedback. Great Vids. Thanks
I make up mini nucs and put cells in straight away don't use cell protectors put them in cool dark place for 6-7 days then release seems to for me
same problem at Selby to much rain and no nectar
I'm in keighley area of Yorkshire and I'm wanting to get into beekeeping but im finding it very hard to find some land to use to get going do you know anywhere in the area that I'd be able to rent some land to use for beekeeping?
A good option is to join the local association and see if there are any plots of land available or share a site with someone else
Absconding bees🤔
Robbing bees🤔
Sounds vaguely familiar😆
A man who has never made a mistake
Has never made anything😆
Better luck next time
Hope you're well🤗
Just trying to second guess an insect 😆
I will take the easy option and buy my queens in. Andy, any plans to raise some Caucasian queens? I've got a couple now and they are thriving, whereas my Buckfast and AMM bees are struggling. I've been working on Pateley Moor for the last week and there are no signs of wild honeybees, so I'm thinking Of swapping out for Caucasians.