Mating nucs - options and....gulp...opinions !

[greengumbo]

Wife's asked what I want for my birthday and as per no other 35 year old I've ever met I want some mating nucs !

I did a few home made jobs last year with mixed success but could do with some good ones I think.

So thinking apideas, swi-bine and ....what ? Also where is the best place to buy them ?

GG

[Jon]

Swi-bine are cheap and nasty. Horrible frames and the feeder can't be removed.
I have a couple and they do work but the apidea is the far better choice for a few quid more.

The best price for Apideas is with Bee Equipped (http://beeequipped.co.uk/component/option,com_marketplace/page,show_category/catid,7/Itemid,29/total,9/ad_type,0/limit,6/limitstart,6/), £19.50 per Apidea. Thorne charge over £30.

Swienty will be cheaper if you can talk her into buying you several cases of 18 apideas

The double units sold by Abelo (Swi-bine are cheap and nasty. Horrible frames and the feeder can't be removed. I have a couple and they do work but the apidea is the far better choice for a few quid more. The best price for Apideas is with Bee equipped, £19.50 per Apidea. Thorne charge over £30. http://beeequipped.co.uk/component/option,com_marketplace/page,show_category/catid,7/Itemid,29/total,9/ad_type,0/limit,6/limitstart,6/ The double units sold by Abelo seem to be good but I have not tried them out yet. MBC and a couple of others who post here have used them. http://www.abelo.co.uk/shop/mini-bee-hive-mini-plus-mating-hive/) seem to be good but I have not tried them out yet. MBC and a couple of others who post here have used them.

[greengumbo]

Those double ones look very interesting and I know the abelo guys pretty well.

I think we have a winner. I can always sneak a few apideas later on in the year without her finding out ;)

[Jon]

I think Abelo are one of the suppliers coming to the UBKA conference on 7-8th March.

[fatshark]

Hi GG … I've used Kielers and/or homemade mini-nucs - all with pretty good success. Apideas are certainly well made. Jon is a fan, and probably rightly so. The poly is very robust, they stack well and the frames conveniently fit into a super frame to use up the sealed brood at the end of the season. Bee Equipped are by far the cheapest but my last email to them (about a radial extractor … their prices are outstanding) went unanswered so check all is well there before sending off the dosh.

The Abelo units look nicely made … but they're not truly mini-nucs. I'm not sure how many bees you need to prime them with … 3 frames 150mm x 200mm gives a volume quite a bit larger than an Apidea. This will probably make them easier to manage - less absconding, better able to keep brood warm etc. but you'll have to harvest nurse bees from more colonies if you're getting several started.

By the way don't for a minute believe you can "sneak in a few apideas … without her finding out". Repeat these words "Dead man walking". ;)

[mbc]

The Abelo units look nicely made … but they're not truly mini-nucs. I'm not sure how many bees you need to prime them with … 3 frames 150mm x 200mm gives a volume quite a bit larger than an Apidea. This will probably make them easier to manage - less absconding, better able to keep brood warm etc. but you'll have to harvest nurse bees from more colonies if you're getting several started.


I use about the same amounts of bees to start half a mini plus as I would a kieler, a generous cupful, perhaps slightly more than I would use for an apidea but not by much. Hopefully this Spring will be a bit different, as I have many miniplus hives overwintering and I am hoping enough will make it through to provide mini frames of brood for all the the first batch of queen cells.
Anticipation is building already for the new season but theres a long way to go before the first drones, daffs coming out here now though ! Cant wait :)

[greengumbo]

Spoke to abelo. Top chaps and will get in the double nucs for me as none in stock. No rush ! The end is nigh though , I finally got a smartphone so this forum may see more rambling s from me.

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

[prakel]

As of today there's a 'new kid' on the block in the form of Mann Lake's twin/double mating nuc (http://www.mannlake.co.uk/beekeeping-supplies/category/page39.html), available from their UK stockist Mann Lake UK.

[Jon]

The built in feeders which can't be removed look like the main drawback of that Mann lake mating nuc. I presume the half frames are based on langstroth dimensions.

[prakel]

Never too keen on that type of feeder myself, either; had some experience of them with the type of mating nuc sold by Park Bee Supply.

The 'growing' boxes (same link, bottom of page) are very similar to the home made nucs I've found myself settling with. By adding a floor; division board and a roof you've got a two way mating nuc which can be united into one for overwintering.

To feed them we're building dinky little Ashforths to fit, out of 'scrap'. Not that we feed much syrup to these little boxes but they'll hold fondant too. Ekes/mini contact feeders/jam jars etc would all make acceptable alternatives.

[Jon]

I still don't really like the concept of double units but if you wanted one you could put a divider in one of the payne poly nucs and make another entrance at the back. This way you would have your bees on full size national frames.
I still prefer the smaller units like apideas as it is easier to get them filled.
Some of the equipment marketed as mating nucs is nearer to nuc size.
No problem as long as you have enough bees to fill them.

[prakel]

I've come to like the flexibility of the twin units although I appreciate that a lot aren't keen on them for various reasons; the three way boxes which I made are all being re-cut into twins because I didn't ever feel comfortable working the middle unit even though we had good results re queen mating.

We've got full frame nucs but in an ideal world I don't reckon that they're economical enough for queen mating (I personally don't like any nuc of less than three frames), not when half frame nucs are so easy to build and as mbc described earlier, to stock.

[prakel]

Not quite what GreenGumbo is looking for but I see that Thornes are now doing a Range of full frame poly nuc boxes. Looks like one basic size which can be converted to take various frames from BS up to dadant.

[Adam]

The idea of having a double nuc is to help keep the bees warm as one lot warms the other. However if the (mann lake) double mini-nuc is polystyrene with the feeder in the middle, does that defeat the idea of having a double box as there will be little warmth from one side to t'other?

[prakel]

The idea of having a double nuc is to help keep the bees warm as one lot warms the other. However if the (mann lake) double mini-nuc is polystyrene with the feeder in the middle, does that defeat the idea of having a double box as there will be little warmth from one side to t'other?

Perhaps that isn't the idea of the mann lake nuc, maybe it's more of a two for one sort of mentality to make them more attractive in a market where 'styrofoam' hives seem to get quite a tough reception.

[busybeephilip]

You can get problems with double units the main one being the bees leaving a queenless side and joining the queenright side. I use a double Swedish EWK units home made from wood, bee migration to the other half has only happened to me once. With the EWK system, removing a laying queen and replacing with a cell or virgin is a very quick process as there is only one frame to examine and you can see the bees, eggs brood and queen through glass without even opening the mating nuc. You can even examine them by torch light. Unlike the apidea or swinebine that has 3 frames to wade through then chase the queen around in the bottom of the box !