# 3 frame nucs after almonds



## Father & Sons Apiary (Sep 4, 2013)

I am planning to make 3 frame splits this year. One of my close friends made 300 hives out of 70 hives. This was his method.

20 frames of bees in one hive. Take away 3 frames that make a nuc. Leave the hive with 3 frames of bees. That makes 4 nucs from one hive. Plus with the hive it generates 5 hives altogether. He had 70 hives in the spring then after almonds he visited the orange groves and there he split them and now has a little over 300 hives. All his hives have around 10-16 frames of bees clustering. All his hives are strong and ready to be split again after the almonds. I would like to clarify with other beekeepers about this method I would like to use it if it works.


----------



## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

yes that works if you have mated queens or cells ready for introduction to the splits. Not all the cells will take. 

In theory yes that can work if you have a strong hive with 20 frames of bees.


----------



## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Using mated queens you could accomplish your goal. With queen cells you would need proper nuc placement. I have placed nucs into the oranges last spring with roughly 85% mating success. Just keep in mind that oranges dont always make honey. You might have to feed those nucs but that depends on year and location.


----------



## Father & Sons Apiary (Sep 4, 2013)

RAK said:


> Using mated queens you could accomplish your goal. With queen cells you would need proper nuc placement. I have placed nucs into the oranges last spring with roughly 85% mating success. Just keep in mind that oranges dont always make honey. You might have to feed those nucs but that depends on year and location.


]
Yes I will probably purchase not mated queens, but hatched queens. I am planning to use the 5 hive method (the way I call it), so I can increase my hive numbers and the following year to get around 500-800 hives. I am not depending on a honey crop at all so the hives can go into winter with enough stores.

I will be feeding them pollen-sub and hfcs and plus I have around 6 thousand drawn out deep frames, so the nucs will not have to draw out new comb, making them build up faster. After the oranges I will go to blueberries they start blooming on April 1st following that raspberries,blackberries, ect.


----------



## RAK (May 2, 2010)

Purchasing virgins is a bad idea IMO. You will have very poor acceptance...Your better off purchasing 2 queen cells per nuc. Picking up cells is the best $$ deal you could get for queens.


----------



## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

http://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/docs/00/89/22/17/PDF/hal-00892217.pdf


----------



## Father & Sons Apiary (Sep 4, 2013)

RAK said:


> Purchasing virgins is a bad idea IMO. You will have very poor acceptance...Your better off purchasing 2 queen cells per nuc. Picking up cells is the best $$ deal you could get for queens.


Yes I will probably purchase Queen Cells then because I have a budget I can get cells for $1 each instead of a mated queen for $20


----------



## camero7 (Sep 21, 2009)

I've had good success 75+% introducing virgins with Ammonium nitrate. My worst results were in styrofoam boxes and best results were in wooden boxes. I suspect there is some chemical reaction with the AN/styro. Nice thing about virgins is you know they are hatched and can see their size and configuration.


----------



## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

Very interesting article Mr. Lyon thanks!


----------



## babybee (Mar 23, 2012)

If you can buy queen cells for one dollar each I am assuming they are of high quality! Hahahaha. I am joking as I have 10 to 15 thousand annually in breeder queens plus less hives going to almonds plus the over all work of setting up and maintaining my grafting hives and yard. And the list goes on and on. And I sell the cheapest cells in my area and I can't compete with that price.


----------



## Father & Sons Apiary (Sep 4, 2013)

babybee said:


> If you can buy queen cells for one dollar each I am assuming they are of high quality! Hahahaha. I am joking as I have 10 to 15 thousand annually in breeder queens plus less hives going to almonds plus the over all work of setting up and maintaining my grafting hives and yard. And the list goes on and on. And I sell the cheapest cells in my area and I can't compete with that price.


Yah well its California thing are always a few dollars cheaper in california


----------



## Heintz88 (Feb 26, 2012)

We did a quick 360 hives with three frame splits around a month-two months ago. Have been babying them and they aren't coming along as well as they should be. 4 frames and 1 honey. Quality over quantity in my opinion. Keep us updated.


----------



## johng (Nov 24, 2009)

I think the time of year is a hugh factor in small splits. I can make two frame splits around Valentines day ane have the grow and make 2-3supers ot honey by early June. Or I can make 3 frame splits in July and have them barely make 5 nucs to overwinter. So if u get a decent flow from the oranges your plan should work fine.


----------



## odfrank (May 13, 2002)

You would have as good or better odds than the tens of thousands of packages that are started in California the same time of year, because your starts would be a nuc on drawn combs with brood. Make sure there are colonies nearby to supply drones to mate those virgins.


----------



## Father & Sons Apiary (Sep 4, 2013)

johng said:


> I think the time of year is a hugh factor in small splits. I can make two frame splits around Valentines day ane have the grow and make 2-3supers ot honey by early June. Or I can make 3 frame splits in July and have them barely make 5 nucs to overwinter. So if u get a decent flow from the oranges your plan should work fine.


But the splits with be made after the almonds and I am from Oregon and there is something always blooming in the summer, so with some extra syrup and pollen sub, they will do just fine.


----------



## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Father & Sons Apiary said:


> Yes I will probably purchase Queen Cells then because I have a budget I can get cells for $1 each instead of a mated queen for $20


Anyone selling cells for a buck has got to be insane or on crack. Ok maybe meth!!!!!!! Queens will be over $20 this year out of Ca if you have raised them more than 5 years. I just ordered 1000 extras from a neighbor for mid April for more than your $20 cause we can never raise enough to put in all the packages that will be passing through in April. 

As per cells being the best deal out there. Its not the case every year on the west coast. Good luck.


----------

