I need to do a few trapouts this spring and I was wondering the importance of having a frame of brood in there. Could I use empty frames to catch the bees and then re-queen after they get kinda full? Or will they not take to the nuc any other way?
You'll need a frame with a good amount of eggs, not just brood, and a frame of nectar wouldn't hurt, but it's the frame with eggs and younger larva that will hold the bees into the box. Without them, they won't be staying as well and will try instead to figure out the funnel and cluster around it, I would think.
Think of it like this, its like putting a bunch of empty baby carriages out on your street. No one's coming out to those carriages, until you add the babies & then they ain't leaving those lil babies alone.
...JP
Good to go thanks....