Nucleus Colony (Nuc)
Lexikon
A nucleus colony (Ableger) is a small young colony that the beekeeper forms from the material of a strong production colony.
A nucleus colony (Ableger) is a small young colony that the beekeeper forms from the material of a strong production colony. Brood combs with the bees sitting on them, along with stores, go into a hive of their own, while the old queen deliberately stays behind in the parent colony. The nucleus then rears its own queen, or it is given a nursed queen cell or a ready-mated queen. Nucleus colonies serve to replace winter losses, build up colony numbers, renew comb, and, as a side effect, prevent swarming, because brood and bees are removed from the donor colony.
Several forms are distinguished. In a brood nucleus, the combs come from a single colony. In a combined brood nucleus, brood combs from several healthy colonies are put together, usually one comb per colony. This curbs the swarming drive in several colonies at once and lowers the varroa pressure there, but it requires donor colonies that are unquestionably healthy. The artificial swarm, also called a brushed swarm, needs no combs at all: bees are brushed off the combs into a box and rehoused together with a queen or a queen cell.
The location is decisive. Flying bees know their old location and fly back to it. Anyone who wants to leave the nucleus at the same apiary must therefore strengthen it heavily with young bees taken from open brood combs. A separate site for nuclei at least three kilometers away is safer, since then the bees stay with the new colony.
Typical beginner mistakes are too few bees, too little food, and too much impatience. About nine days after formation, the queen cells that have been reared are reduced to one, or at most two, cells, otherwise the young colony can swarm itself. After that the little colony needs peace: it takes about three to four weeks before a self-reared queen comes into lay. Only then is it worth checking whether the colony is queenright.