Basic Beekeeping with NUCs:

There are several options for replacing or adding colonies into your apiary whether you have one or one-thousand hives. Packaged bees have always been a popular method for replacement or expansion. However, they sometimes pose supercedure issues due to the fact that you are combining a young mated queen with unrelated loose bees in an empty hive with pheromones (odors) unfamiliar to all. Often with new beekeepers, the bees are put into new equipment with undrawn combs. It is easier for bees to adapt to introduction onto comb that is already drawn and ready for the queen to lay eggs.

A five frame bee nucleus (NUC) consists of:

• a "laying" queen that has already been accepted by the hive
• inner frames containing brood in all stages
• two outer frames containing honey, pollen, and adhering bees.

Italian & Carniolan Hybrid

Aurea X Karnica hybrid queens provide commercial and hobbyist beekeepers with a hardy, productive bee.

The rules of genetics require the formation of pure lines of honey bees in order to select and propagate characteristics that are beneficial for beekeepers across the US. Latshaw Apiaries has developed two strains of bees, the Aurea and Karnica. The Aurea strain (Italian Based) and the Karnica strain (Carniolan Based) of bees fill niches in both the commercial and hobbyist settings. By developing two distinct strains of honey bees, Latshaw Apiaries has the flexibility to accommodate many types of operations. The Aurea strain tends to be more of a commercial type of bee with large colony populations. This bee works well for pollination, queen rearing and honey production in areas that have abundant flows. The Karnica strain tends to exhibit more of the traditional Carniolan characteristics such as a smaller brood nest, more responsiveness to environmental cues and frugal use of winter stores.

The Aurea X Karnica hybrid offers a third alternative with the benefit of hybrid vigor/heterosis. Hybrid breeder queens are produced by crossing the two strains through the use of instrumental insemination. Naturally mated production queens are then produced from the hybrid breeder queens for use in production colonies. The hybrid daughters offer a couple of distinct advantages. Hybrid vigor often leads to an increased level of productivity, sometimes above and beyond what is observed in the original pure strains. In addition, the increased genetic diversity from the hybrid daughters is beneficial at the colony level for control of pests and diseases. Lastly, the hybrid daughter queens have proven their production capability in the commercial industry over the years.

More and more beekeepers like the production style of the hybrid bee and have used them extensively for honey production, queen rearing and pollination. The hybrids are real workhorses in the sense that they combine the large colony size of the Aurea strain with the productivity and hardiness of the Karnica strain. The beekeeper is able to get the best of both worlds.