After queens are raised, they need to be mated. Traditionally, this has been done using a 5-frame nucleus box with full size frames for each individual queen. This method take a lot of bees out of honey production during a crucial time of the season. In Europe, a common piece of equipment for mating queens is a mini mating nuc hive. This method of mating queens only requires using a cupful of bees at a time.
Our mini queen mating nucleus hive is made of polystyrene which help keep the bees at a consistent 93 to 95 degree F temperature. It comes with three 4 inch plastic frames, a closeable entrance, feed chamber, extra box, top, queen excluder (to keep the queen out of the feed), a ventilation grid for circulation, and a removable, vented plastic bottom which provides for extra ventilation and easy cleaning.?9″ long, 6″ wide and 9″ high.
