Could someone explain the purpose or procedure of a growing box for nucs? Thanks
http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/page52.html (http://www.mannlakeltd.com/beekeeping-supplies/page52.html)
The mating box at the top uses special frames. The growing box is to draw out the comb for those smaller frames. At least that is what I think.
So you're saying get the bees to draw them out in advance of using in the mating nucs? I was assuming after queen mates and bees draw out frames in mating nuc I was to expand into the growing box but then again I am clueless on this one. LOL
Razerback, I use half medium frames and growing boxes for my queen mating projects. Mine are homemade, but they are very close to the Mann Lake dimensions. Some have plastic foundation, some are foundationless.
For me, the purpose of the growing box is to comb up and fill the mating frames with brood, honey, and/or pollen for use in mating nucs. I do that in dedicated growing box hives made of nothing but mating frames. Over 60 mating frames per hive. I overwinter a queen in said growing box hives. Come spring, the half frames are filled with brood, honey, or pollen. I can then break apart the hive and move 4 frames into each of my mating nucs (again half medium sized).
As with most splits, you would like to populate a split with brood and stores. That is easy to do in this setup. I put in a couple mini frames of brood and a frame, or maybe two, of stores in each 4 frame mating nuc. This will give the initial spring splits enough bees to stay put and not all return to the parent hive. That may be the biggest reason for using growing boxes, getting bees to stay in the things!
I would take some photos of my growing box hive and nucs, but we are having a typical May day in Michigan: cold, gray and rainy.
I'm still pretty new at raising queens so I'm liable to change my approach over time, but for now the little half frame mating nucs/system is working pretty good.
Quote from: RZRBCK BEE on May 09, 2012, 01:56:21 PM
So you're saying get the bees to draw them out in advance of using in the mating nucs? I was assuming after queen mates and bees draw out frames in mating nuc I was to expand into the growing box but then again I am clueless on this one. LOL
You are right, the bees will draw out new comb in the mating nucs AFTER you have bees in them. The problem is getting the bees to stay put in the first place! That is where the growing box comes in handy. It's probably most handy in the spring when you initially populate the mating nucs.
Thanks BlueBee