Forming a Nucleus Colony
Arbeiten am Bienenstand
The nucleus colony is young-colony production and swarm prevention in one.
The nucleus colony is young-colony production and swarm prevention in one. From a strong colony, two to three brood combs with the bees still on them and one to two food combs are hung into a separate hive; the queen stays in the mother colony. If the nucleus is to raise its own queen, one of the combs must contain the youngest open brood, otherwise it lacks the material for it.
Because the foraging bees return to the mother colony, bees from an additional comb should also be added, or the nucleus is placed at least three kilometers away. About nine days after forming it, the queen cells raised in the meantime are reduced to a single good cell, otherwise the nucleus will swarm too.
The nucleus needs feed in the first weeks, most calmly as fondant, and must not fall into robbing: keep the entrance small. And when the new queen hatches, it is broodless, the best opportunity to treat it against varroa.