Norfolk Honey - Equipment - polystyrene traveling box
Norfolk Honey - poly traveling/nuc box
Polystyrene traveling boxes - click on image to see larger.
We purchased some of these polystyrene traveling boxes for the first time in
2011 in order that Norfolk bees could be safely dispatched to other parts
of the UK. We have found that the bees seem to be quite happy in these boxes
and
if,
in
the summer, we fill the side feeder compartment with syrup the bees soon expand
their colony and need moving on to larger quarters.
We have also left a box with bees in to take through the winter. So far
they also seem to doing very well.
Buying your bees early in the spring with
a previous year's queen gives you proven a queen that has already been laying
well for some months and bees that over winter well in the UK. By housing the
bees in these boxes for the winter we are able to make nucs available earlier
in the year. (I think that polystyrene boxes are warmer than wooden
boxes and the bees build up their colony quicker)
Once we can give a brief inspection to ensure there is brood then bees in poly box are ready to go. Depending on the weather conditions at the time his could be as early as February.
Just one word of warning for the new beekeeper - bees with old queens are more likely to swarm than nucs with new queens. Maybe this is one of the reasons that beginners are generally sold nucs with new queens during May, June, July. However, once you know that if you buy a nuc early in the year with an old queen then you can be prepared to practice some method of swarm control.
We have our own method of swarm control -- see Queen rearing