# Where is the best place to buy mini mating nucs? Pictures of your own?



## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

Hello all,
I am hoping to start selling Russian queens next year, I would like to use mini mating nucs. Does anyone have some recommendations as to where to purchase these? Should I make them myself? If so, does anyone have plans, and can you post photos of your mini nucs here? Thanks in advance!


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

I bought the Shamrock S ultimate mating hive from Mann Lake (ML #IN-170). It has some advantages I like.


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## sfisher (Sep 22, 2009)

Nice looking boxes, how much are they?


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## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

Have you tried Velbert site ?


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## WWW (Feb 6, 2011)

Ben, I made my own mating nuc's from free shipping crates, I have four sets of these. They take the standard frames that I use in my hives ( deeps and shallows ). A single box will fit two shallow frames and a double box will fit two deep frames. They work very well for queen rearing and mating as well as queen banking when needed. Two of them will sit on top of a standard ten frame hive for warmth if you need to keep them warmer in colder weather. The queens that I have raised from these mating nuc's have been excellent......Bill


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## Lburou (May 13, 2012)

sfisher said:


> Nice looking boxes, how much are they?


Mann Lake.


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

Lburou said:


> Mann Lake.


Price stated plainly: $85.95


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Instead of posting a bunch of photos, just go to my photobucket account and brouse through the pics. Mostly bee related pics for about 25 pages or so. Several types of mating nucs shown there.Singles, quads, condos.

http://s425.photobucket.com/albums/pp340/tweety4926/#!cpZZ1QQtppZZ16

They all work well, some just need more resources than others. It depends on your climate the amount of bees needed to keep a small mating nuc warm enough. That Shamrock quad is not a bad price considering you get a bottom, deep box, all frames and top+ disk excluders. I wouldn't use it in my area..not warm enough for my cool nights.
I made some quads like the shamrock with Dadant 1 1/2" thick polystyrene.
Because I plan to try to overwinter some queens in this, I went for big time insulation.










My favorites are the fence hanging deep minis that hold five or six deep mini frames. Once a larger hive gets them drawn out, I put them in the mini nuc box's. They are strong mini hives and I have a great return on them. Plus they are easy on my back! Love the hindged tops too. Forget the window..I never use it and it was time consuming to make. 

















Lauri


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## djastram (May 1, 2011)

Here is info on the mini mating nucs I built.

If you want a PDF with the dimensions, msg me with your email address, and I'll send it.

http://youtu.be/q13iKBVixY8

Dave


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## westernbeekeeper (May 2, 2012)

spunky said:


> Have you tried Velbert site ?


Can you post a link? Thx.


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## spunky (Nov 14, 2006)

www.vlwbeequeens.com 

regards
Brad


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## Jim 134 (Dec 1, 2007)

Take a look at Walter T. Kelley mini mating nucs 

https://kelleybees.com/Products/Detail/?id=33323333333033333338



BEE HAPPY Jim 134


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## Jim 134 (Dec 1, 2007)

Walter T. Kelley Product Code: 940

https://kelleybees.com/Products/Detail/?id=33323333333033333338


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