Beekeeping Tip: Having a Resource Nuc in your Apiary

Last year I sold a chicken coop to a friend for cash and the promise of a swarm he would catch in south Georgia in the spring. He caught the promised swarm in May 2023, but circumstances of his life kept him from bringing it to me until the end of October.

When I received the hive then it was still in its swarm trap. I left it there all winter because October is not a good time to hive bees. In February, a friend helped me move the hive into a hive box, but we didn't cut and wire the combs which were deep frames with enough length of comb below them to stretch through three medium boxes.

So this spring, I'm sure they couldn't wait to swarm. As a result, the hive swarmed with the original queen on May 24. But with the comb construction, I expect that there were many hidden queen cells. So when the new queen emerged, she didn't kill all the queens. Then I witnessed the return of the mated queen on Tuesday April 2. On April 3, a secondary swarm issued from the hive, and I gave that one away. Then on April 5, another secondary swarm was issued and I kept that one to be a resource hive in my apiary.

Having a resource hive is a great thing - and that is what this beekeeping tip is about.

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