# Nicot



## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Installed the coates (cell door or fwof) in cell builder.
http://nordykebeefarm.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Update. Nicot now has eggs. Waiting for them to hatch. Details on site above.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Inserted the Cloake Board today. Everything still on track. Can't wait to see the Cupularve tomorrow.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Eggs have hatched. Larvae transferred to Cell Builder. Details:
http://nordykebeefarm.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6&PN=1


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Cell builder made queenright again. Some fun with getting the slide out!


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Started making mating nucs today. Calculate the cost at $15 per box. Tomorrow we will find out how many we'll need.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

I meant $1 per box. It was $15 for material to build 15 boxes.


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## drobbins (Jun 1, 2005)

Jon,

thanks for posting all the info on your website
it's very informative for a rookie like me
tell me more about your mating nuc's, that sounds really cheap

Dave


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Hi Dave,
First, it's not my website. Mark asked me to moderate it for him because he's too busy.
I'm sure I'm not the first one to try this, but I decided since there were commercial styrofoam boxes available, there shouldn't be a problem using it for a building material.

We purchased a 4x8x1/2" sheet of extruded styrofoam and liquid nails for $15 with tax. We actually get more parts than the 15 nucs when finished, but I wanted to try it out before buying two more sheets so everything comes out even.
The baby nucs will have 4 wooden frames (I should be downstairs making these instead of typing on the computer) and 1 boardman style feeder.
If there is much interest, I'll post pictures and drawings on the other site. I can't guarantee they will work, yet.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Wow! 29 BIG queen cells being drawn!
http://nordykebeefarm.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6


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## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

Hi Jon That was the same excitment I Felt when I first used it I thought I had found a great way to raise Queens (Caution) Before they were seales 1/2 was tore down I thought well i still have 13 real nice large Queen cell so i went and made up my divides 2 days before they were to hatch Got up early about 6AM open up the cell builder to get out the ripe queen Cells Man was I Deflated they destroyed the rest of the cells My thought was well I have another graft ready to hatch in about 3 days and another in about 6-7 days.So I decided to check them Because they were a bit Bigger than normal so I Open one up It was a huge Drone Larva.Lost about 120 Cells.I hope this is not your case But Before you count on them ... After they are sealed a day or 2 Break one open and check Before you make all those nuc up.I Modified the system a bit wating to see if these are Queens They are built not as huge they look normal.(HOPE)


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Velbert,
Thanks for the warning. 
Vincent Doyle, author of the "Cell Door" article in the Dec 93 Bee Culture, offers that same suggestion. He described how to open the queen cell without damaging the queen and checking for the proper color and other characteristics, then placing her back in the cell and placing the cell back on the bar. He actually dumped her out of the cell into his hand to do the exam!


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

Jon

Would be interested in seeing those baby nucs you built. Sounds like it would work well, and well..the price is right!!!


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

As soon as I try the baby nucs, if they work, I'll post a drawing. I don't want to spread bad information.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Sorry for the inaction, but have been busy.
Upate on the nicot queen rearing.
The nicot was a complete success as a queen rearing method. out of the 29 queen cells started, 19 were capped. Out of the 19 capped, 16 emerged. Nice fat virgin queens. 14 are heading colonies. Two were added to mating nucs.
For a complete review:
http://nordykebeefarm.com/forum/forum_topics.asp?FID=6&PN=1

The mating nucs are going to work. I will post this information separately.
We used a sheet of ½ extruded foam. The cost to us was the sheet of foam, about $15. The other materials were in the junk box. This equated to about $1 per nuc.

Since we actually used two different systems, the Nicot and the Cell Door, two timelines had to be integrated. I will post this as well. The Cell door manipulation starts two weeks before the Nicot.


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## PaulR (May 24, 2005)

Jon, Congratulations and thanks for postings!!!!


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## maverick (Oct 5, 2005)

hi guys:
my nicot just arrived. I have a simple question.
do I need to place few worker bees inside the nicot box to feed the queen? since the instruction flyer only indicates to place candy in slot, but did mention if attendant workers are needed
thanks


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## Dan Williamson (Apr 6, 2004)

>>do I need to place few worker bees inside the nicot box to feed the queen? since the instruction flyer only indicates to place candy in slot, but did mention if attendant workers are needed

No you just place her in. The front panel is actually just an excluder. The workers can come and go as they please.


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## maverick (Oct 5, 2005)

oh got it. 
thanks. I did not see it that way


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Maverick,
Place the nicot in the hive, in the broodnest, without the queen excluder (the plastic part with the slots) for 24 hours before capturing the queen. This gives the parts a chance to acquire the hive smell, temperature and get a polishing.
The easiest way to place the queen in the box is to put the queen excluder on, remove the plug, catch the queen, and place her headfirst into the hole.
If you are uncomfortable with catching the queen, practice on some drones first.
Again, it's very important to put the box without the queen excluder in the broodnest before putting the queen into it to lay eggs.


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## maverick (Oct 5, 2005)

thank's a lot for the info.
this is going to be lots of fuuuun.
I hope.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

Maverick,
I videotaped looking at the first frame of cells after 48 hours. 
The first frame had 16 out of 20 cells being drawn down. I hadnt expected this level of success the first time and you can hear my expletive on the video.
It is a lot of fun, but you have to follow the time line.
After grafting the cells, wait 48 hours before checking to see how many queens you have to accommodate.
14 days after grafting, the cells can be moved to the mating nucs or queenless colonies they will get mated from or put hair roller cages on.
16 days they will hatch. If you didnt put hair roller cages on the cells, the first queen out will kill the rest.


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## maverick (Oct 5, 2005)

forgive me john. I guess its friday, I'm unable to find the video clip you mentioned.
I would love to see it.


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## teen-bee (Jan 15, 2005)

Jon I'd like to see the video tape.. wer can i view it? thnx


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## teen-bee (Jan 15, 2005)

maverick.. do you know of any video link in Nicot system queen rearing.. just like the queen rearing video you posted? thanks man.. it would be a great help. Eyre Nicot DVD cannot be order from the philippines. Seems its beyond there area of operation...


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

I don't have the vidio posted anywhere. I compiled a DVD with several sequences I was preparing for the local bee club. When I finalized the DVD, it didn't work. The original tapes had already been recycled so I didn't have anything to recover it from. The files are still intact on the DVD. My son was able to view them on his computer, but we haven't figured how to recover it, yet.


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## maverick (Oct 5, 2005)

sorry teen-bee.
I was looking for the same video, but so far have not come across it. I will post a link If I find something.


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## teen-bee (Jan 15, 2005)

JonM I got a pre loaded program in my PC that convert/shrink & burn DVD files.. its called "Ashampoo". I dont have the installer to it so i cant email you one.. but if you can email/download me the DVD files on your PC perhaps from your website, I can try to burn it to a DVD or VCD disk and send you the disk.. 

I done it before.. perhaps it will work... depending on how the DVD was complied/decrypted to your hard disk....


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## wayacoyote (Nov 3, 2003)

Jon,
where do you get the Nicot system and replacement parts?

BetterBee had "Cupularvae" at one time. But now its website just calls it a "no graft queen rearing kit".

I feel like everytime I find a supplier of a certain system, they change what they offer before I can order. It's like hitting a moving target....  

Waya

[ May 18, 2006, 04:29 PM: Message edited by: wayacoyote ]


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## Big Ed (Jul 1, 2005)

Waya, I also have a Nicot system. "Cupalarvae" and Nicot are the same. I got mine at Betterbee, but Beeworks in Canada has it too. I suspect Mann Lake's is a Nicot also. Sometimes you just have to look at the picture in the catalog. Very happy with mine.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

I bought my original Nicot System from Mann Lake in 2000. They included some inadequate instructions with it. The more detailed instructions were in French, but still weren't what I could have used to do the maipulations successfully.

Additional parts that I bought this year, I bought from Betterbee and The Beeworks. 

The Nicot instructional film I got from The Beeworks. The guy did a really good job of explaining the things to do and the pitfalls to watch out for. He has another film called Queen Rearing that I also bought. It is the one I would have purchased if I had to choose between them. The Nicot is covered in the Queen Rearing tape and is the same material used in the Nicot film, so you don't miss anything by purchasing the one.


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## Jon McFadden (Mar 26, 2005)

For those who are interested, I recovered my video of the first inspection of the cells after 48 hours. If you would like a copy, let's see if we can figure something out.


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