Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: tjc1 on May 17, 2014, 03:03:10 PM

Title: Adding nurse bees to a nuc?
Post by: tjc1 on May 17, 2014, 03:03:10 PM
I ended up with an extra queen, so I put her in a 5 frame nuc with a frame of capped brood with nurse bees, and two frames with stores. I released her after 5 days and there was no trouble with them accepting her, except there weren't many bees in there. I worry about the brood getting chilled and dying. Is it safe or advisable to shake a frames-worth of nurse bees in there from another hive or are they likely to kill the queen?
Title: Re: Adding nurse bees to a nuc?
Post by: Steel Tiger on May 17, 2014, 04:26:52 PM
 There shouldn't be a problem shaking a frame or two into the nuc. The new bees wouldn't be trying to defend their own hive from an intrusion.
Title: Re: Adding nurse bees to a nuc?
Post by: Wolfer on May 17, 2014, 10:26:17 PM
I would give them a frame of capped brood if I could spare it. This helps two ways. It gives the queen another frame to lay in and the nurse bees to cover it.