Creation of young colonies (nuclei)
Création de nuclei
Why multiply colonies? This may be done to increase stock numbers, renew colonies, benefit from the vigour of young queens, select preferred colonies, and so on. In nature, bees have three methods of reproduction: swarming (the natural reproduction of bees), requeening (replacement of a deficient or ageing queen), and emergency queen rearing (loss of the queen). Beekeepers also have various methods at their disposal to artificially multiply their stock; these procedures are more or less complex and range from simple division to queen rearing by grafting (picking). The objective, for both the bee and the beekeeper, is to produce a queen so that she can establish a new colony.
Nuclei form the backbone of successful beekeeping. They often develop very well in their second year, show a low tendency to swarm, and produce above-average honey yields. In addition, creating nuclei allows for rigorous selection, as weak colonies are continuously eliminated. ApiService recommends that young colonies should represent around 50% of the total stock. A beekeeper managing 10 production colonies will therefore create 5–7 nuclei. The best period for creating nuclei is from May to June/July, depending on the region.
“Many roads lead to Rome” when it comes to creating nuclei. Artificial swarms and nuclei can be formed in various ways. The following methods are explained below:
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Before starting, two questions should be considered:
- Where does the queen come from?
- How much time do I have before the first worker bees emerge?
Queens may originate from:
- one’s own larvae or eggs
- one’s own queen cells: natural reproductive methods can be used by taking queen cells from a colony that intends to swarm or has already swarmed. While practical, this may propagate swarming-prone or sometimes mediocre colonies.
- the purchase of virgin queens: generally inexpensive, they usually come from selected breeding by experienced beekeepers. Since they are fertilised by local drones, their offspring will not be genetically pure, although the main traits of the mother queen are retained.
- the purchase of mated queens: these are obtained from breeders whose bees have desired characteristics such as disease resistance, productivity, gentleness, and hygienic behaviour. The advantage is that there is about a 98% certainty of obtaining bees with the expected traits.
- queen rearing: producing queens from one’s own colonies.
Depending on the method used, the time between setting up the nucleus and the emergence of the first worker bees can range from three weeks (introduction of a laying queen) to seven or eight weeks (simple division).
The graph above shows that introducing a mated queen is the fastest method for creating a new colony, provided that the queen is accepted. Shortly after acceptance, the young queen begins laying eggs.
When a virgin queen is introduced, more time is required before the first eggs are laid. The period of around seven days corresponds to the time needed for the queen’s reproductive organs to mature, for mating flights to take place, and for preparation of the first egg laying. This interval can vary depending on weather conditions.
The same applies to the introduction of queen cells, as the emergence of new queens depends on the age of the cells introduced.
As shown, simple division requires the longest time before a new colony is established, since bees must raise a new queen from an egg or a larva less than three days old.
See also:
► Renewing colonies and queens
