Running our 2 frame queen mating nucs through winter

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A lot of people have been asking us if we run our 2 frame Queen mating nucs through the winter .we did an experiment with six 2 frame mating nucs, out of six five made it through the winter that is a pretty high success rate. we come up with these at Barnyard bees last year and they are doing great, if you want to run a few Queens or a lot of Queens these are perfect to run in your yard to make as many queens as you want
2 frame mini mating nuc
Sides 19 3/4 long × 10 1/4 high
Bottom board 21 long × 4 3/4 wide
Back end 9 1/2 tall x 3 1/4 wide
Front 8 5/8 tall x 3 1/4 wide
Front & Back end covers 2 x 4 3/4
This piece fits behind frame rest.
Migratory Top 24 x 5 1/2
/ 1840466109605990

[@LittleBitsHoneyBeesjoemay]

Don't kill my queen Jimmy. LOL

[@topgundrivers1]

David, thanks for your help on this. I just want to give a shout out to people on your channel that you actually help people and will respond with any questions they may have. It means alot. Thanks

[@toddfolger9515]

Nice job. I was looking forward to this video all winter and I’m happy it worked out!

[@robdermott361]

Glad to see you boys again! Spring has sprung!

[@dannywalden457]

Enjoyed the video guys, it was great seeing my helper at Barnyard Bees Jimmy.... Cant wait for my bees to come in...

[@nathanrich8860]

These are so awesome! Can't wait to try this next year!

[@donaldsmith3048]

There is some videos that he put insulation on his boxes and they didn't use much of there stores to go through a very cold winter. He made insulation into the sides of the box to help keep them worm, and it may help keep them cool in the summer.

[@chrisbgarrett]

I had a baseball size swarm into winter in a 5 frame. They survived and I added bees and frames from a strong hive,now have a strong 8frame hive for spring. I will totally build some 2 framers this year. Just makes sense.

[@patriotridge]

I will try this! Thank you! And I enjoy your videos.

[@lonnieperry8112]

thank YOU thanks for sharing , I bought five of your feeders so far very happy, and I made 10 of the minas

[@aliciamcnamar8203]

I really appreciate this video. thank you. I haven't gotten my bees yet BUT i am a student of Don The Fat Bee Man . Been learning from him for 2 years now.

[@tomhall3172]

Very cool set up.

[@dadu63]

i started my 2 frame nuc on 22nd on this month and today they were all gone. they had started 2 queen cells but no bees today. ill keep trying. thanks david.

[@junkinjodi8942]

I live in Indiana and I have some of Joe Mays bees, and they are very gentle. I've been beekeeping now 4 about 3 years, and I am very happy with the way these bees are performing. Joe calls me every once in awhile to see how they're doing I want to see if I have any questions. I cannot tell you what that means to a new beekeeper. so if you live in Indiana check out jail at little bits honey bees

[@sansomspressurecleaningpoo9519]

Love your videos

[@Brian.N]

Thanks for the videos

[@spudgn]

Thanks Dave.

[@framcesmoore]

Ha david I lost 5 from 21 tell u the truth I am very happy I have any bees to live it was so bad here I did not think any would live, we did have home less people die and a woman from my town left her home walking and they found her also she die about 4 days she was out in the cold they found her in a ditch. U do a wonderful job with the videos thanks for sharing

[@beamoscrilla7691]

We just ditched the tiny mating nucs and switched to a 3 frame mating nuc in regular shallow boxes. I'm excited to see the results.

[@trichard5106]

Thanks !!

[@naturemaster6252]

awesome video.

[@TheSoilandGreen]

Oh and thanks for the info on the little ones, I just had my package canceled in the mail. You need to find a way to ship with USPS or amazon I’ll take live bees for another month 😁

[@sweetirisfarm]

*You need to get back to WV and bring those bees, so I can come by whenever I want and get some!*

[@sweetirisfarm]

*I'm in Greenbrier county. Your from further up north aren't you?*

[@kyguy-wr6bo]

I get 3 frame deeps and 4 frame mediums to overwinter here in southeast ky pretty good

[@dpratte]

You have such a neat and well-groomed yard. I do have a question: How you you feel about pressure treated lumber for your hive stands? I suspect that's what you use, but can't really tell. Any advice?

[@billiamc1969]

I overwinter 2 framers here in Baltimore, Maryland...they just need a little more care but with imagination it is very possible!!!!

[@OklahomaBeekeeper]

Nice to see Jimmy. David and Jimmy hope you guys have a great bee season. Guys can I ask what your day time and night temps are since y'all are sugar water feeding. And at what temps you guys start feeding sugar water, if I may ask. I'm also figuring that y'all don't tilt your hives forward for the moisture condensation to roll forward and not drip on the bees.

[@OklahomaBeekeeper]

Barnyard Bees, thanks I was wondering. Our maples bloomed 3 weeks ago, but we have had several cold fronts. Have a good day, thanks again.

[@alvinschneider9138]

Enjoy your videos, are your queens raised in two frame nucs equal in quality to those raised in larger hives with a large amount of nurse bees?

[@AmericansBee]

Don’t forget about JPtheBeeMan

[@HarmonyHollowApiary]

Are they made with 3/4" subfloor material? (23/32" Advantec?) Any idea as to longevity of the osb that was used?

[@annomaus8386]

If you had the time, would you have done regular checks on the miniucs durint the winter months? Can you intervene on a hive that needs help when uts really cold outside, say by bringing the hive to a warmer area while inspecting.? We get a few weeks of sub-zero temps in january.

[@WalkerBeeRanch]

what sized ply wood are you using, I am new but I really want to get started soon

[@KevinsNorthernExposure]

I built 4 of these from your design...I'm going to attempt to test a couple of these through winter here in Wisconsin. I'll let you know. I'm not sure why I need it as these are for queen mating and nothing more...hopefully I'll have transferred her to a bigger nuc by winter....so they, in theory, should be empty.

[@welchkoservices4200]

Did it overwinter? from north Illinois.

[@VictorRodrigues-hf8lb]

Hi, when do bees stop building wax? and do you always feed your nucs? Thanks.

[@fayncscott]

Did you have to insulate the 2 frame NUC? My temperature is similar, but I'm zone 8. I guess you fed them with the top feeder, and reduced the entrance. Did you have to take any other precautions temperature wise or to reduce moisture?

[@Sharkteethfossildiscoveries]

Been thinking about this and have a question for you. What is your take on needing lots of supplies like pollen and nectar to make royal jelly to feed the larva to make a good queen? If you take a 1 frame split once it's getting full is that enough bees to make a queen?

[@hunterhull2174]

How do you guys combat ants with your stands in direct contact with the ground? I’m a couple hours south, and we had to build ant-resistant stands because they were all over our hives.

[@bluzervic]

Great video. Maybe you should make and sell those 2 frame NUC's. I like the top feeders as well. My first hive was a 3 frame cutout which has quickly grown to 8 frames and overwintered. My second hive was a 5 frame NUC and really has grown. Hope to get some honey and possibly start my 3rd hive. We have ants so I have had to make anti ant stands.

[@wendybachman6224]

Do you have a link to a website or video on how to make these anti ant stands? I just have sugar ants, but I saw one on one of my forager's antennae over the weekend and she was trying like the dickens to get it off. It was a real struggle for her.

[@StephenBiggers]

Great Video as always. I'm a new beekeeper and was wondering how the mini nucs handle the sugar water. They looked already full of bees. Will this cause a problem with back filling the brood nest and promote swarming? Thanks for any insight.

[@mmb_MeAndMyBees]

They are only used for short durations, or they will Swarm... so review and do regular 'Maintenance' for Swarm Checks. 🐝

[@rayikaikin]

none of this stuff is listed on the website! i was curious about the shipping price to Florida. i actually lost a hive a few weeks ago they just absconded.. plenty of honey and space and they ran off so 50% of my hives made it through "winter" lol....

[@alamenahlesetif]

what the types of this bees

[@alamenahlesetif]

The Italian bees are calm in nature active in collecting honey, inclined to raise a good bosom, and the community begins to raise an early brood, which keeps large areas of brood until autumn.

[@Jknudsen0523]

Why are the front and back sides different measurements?

[@leem6011]

What type of wood are using for construction?

[@joshreeder6881]

Would you start making splits as soon as you start seeing drones ?

[@petermorrow3931]

Aloha David. Thanks for all the great videos. I’m really new at bee keeping and am having a blast doing it. I have a question regarding your nuc. Is it made out of 3/4” or 1/2” ply? And what are the dimensions for the feeder cover you use and can we get the feeders from your site? Thanks again and I look forward to your new videos and doing some business with ya. Aloha Peter

[@johnward3946]

Barnyard Bees .

[@antimonykid]

Can you or would you use the 2-frame nuc as a swarm trap?

[@glenmayeux3870]

I have 10 made one has a queen sale right now south Louisiana

[@aldutton6078]

Do you have a drawing or info posted of the 2 frame mating nuc? Love the videos !

[@aldutton6078]

It is amazing what you find when you, hit "show more"...lol...thanks!

[@RoughAndWretchedRAW]

I'll let you know how these do up north. I'm in Saskatchewan Canada and I'll be using these to increase my bee population this year and I am going to winter some.

[@zacharykrawczyk3942]

How'd they do? I'm in Indiana, USA

[@RoughAndWretchedRAW]

@@zacharykrawczyk3942 Well I only got to winter one and it didn't make it. By the looks of it. it went early on. that's not saying they wouldn't work because of my small sample. I know breeding with them last year I had a problem with cold nights. I only had 2 hives and 2 nucs and was still trying to get a but of honey. As such I made the splits like barnyard bees does and my brood frame would chill. Last summer we had only a handful of decent nights. My success rate breeding and mini nuc survival during summer was no more than 50%. However, that being said, I did increase the hives with 2 swarms to 9 and 4 nucs and 1 mini nuc by fall. The 1 swarm doesn't count but the other does because I got nothing but the bees. No queen no comb and no brood. so the one mini nuc when into that. It was a late season swarm so without the mini nuc to add they would have never made it. Regardless though not counting both swarms I increased my population from 2 hives and 2 nucs last spring , minus the winter dead outs, to 7 hives and 2 nucs this spring. I have no complaints. This year I'll be able to play a bit more and make the splits a bit stronger. last year I learned that the population threshold with weather challenges is a tight rope. This year with much more population will allow for better testing. We only have 3 1/2 months of brooding to play in. After that it's full on survival mode for a full 5 to 5 1/2 months in the shed.

[@matthewwilliams8194]

Can you graft Queen cell and nucs all year round?

[@MaynardFreek]

All I'm wanting to manage is 2 10 frame hive setups. Would using a 2 frame nuc to allow the older queen to swarm be a viable solution?

[@MaynardFreek]

My thought process is using 2 10 frame setups, 2 5 frame and 4 2 frame setups to cover new, swarming and combining techniques to manage everything

[@alexayounginsong2641]

He has the gas station controller to give out sugar water? Where can we get those and how to connect with the hose?

[@jarredladuke]

What are the dimensions on those two framers?

[@AmyStreetLife]

Hi all. I'm a new beekeeper. I will be starting with two nucs this year. I have plenty of room for more if anyone would like to sponsor me. I have taken my state certified exam and am only one portion away from being certified. I scored a 95 of 100 on my exam. I am in constant contact with mentors and am a member of the state and city beekeepers association.

[@jhedlund7274]

Hi. I am swedish and keep bees. I just wonder how long your winter is? when does it start and end? / johan

[@jhedlund7274]

Thank you. Its about how it is where I live. Im going to try to overwinter smaller colonies this coming winter now that you have shown that it can be done. The top feeder with dry sugar is important i guess?

[@jhedlund7274]

Im in the south of Sweden and our winters have not been very cold the last decade or so, ringht now its between 20-30 F and getting warmer. Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. And thank you for the great videos.

[@MrFishdavid1]

You think they will do good in ky

[@houssembenabdallah6599]

what is the difference between those and queen castles ?

[@houssembenabdallah6599]

Barnyard Bees and what if I change the shape and color of the entrance ?

[@jeffbragg1735]

So if I want 6 1/4 frames, would 3 frames work?

[@PatrickPease]

Yes

[@kellyrayx119]

I keep checking your website for those feeders, Don't see them.

[@OklahomaBeekeeper]

kellyrayx119 do as I did and call they are super helpful and the service is the best. I needed something that they had but wasn't on the website too.

[@TheSoilandGreen]

Mushroom sugar water is coming Soooooon. No more mites

[@framcesmoore]

Ha David I would like to know about your temperatures we had 3 weeks solid below freezing , I had full grown double hives die, they could not break cluster to get food, we had people died here with the exstream cold did u have below freezing for 3 weeks if u did I would not mind trying this I live in virginia thanks

[@barrywest3758]

Frances Moore Hello Frances M. Just wondering where you live @ those temps? I live about 1 1/2 hours due West of David on top of Lookout Mountain Alabama. We had below freezing here about one week. This includes daytime temps. Other than that, here it was below freezing overnight for just a little over two weeks.

[@framcesmoore]

I live in a place called Poquoson Va It was the worse temp we have ever had here and I am 60 we made records they called it a arctic blast we have water all around us, the the salt water froze now that is cold.

[@barrywest3758]

Frances Moore Yes, I would say that's cold! Dad gum....

[@jjlmct]

Your bees will drink Sugar Water through Winter?

[@tonyaburton5376]

i wish i could get somebody to send me some free queens

[@dingdong3857]

You like to work out with bricks?