A Comparison of Honey Bee Colony Strength and Survivability between Nucleus and Package Started Colonies

Our project explored the differences in strength and survival between three options for starting new honeybee colonies. Over the course of two years 54 new honey bee colonies were started, managed, monitored, and evaluated by Master Beekeeper Erin MacGregor-Forbes and experienced beekeeper Larry Peiffer. The purpose of the experiment was to determine whether survival rates between the groups of colonies would be measurably different, and whether beekeeper choices in colony starts could influence winter survival probability.

The project involved three colony groups: Two thirds of our colonies were started using commercially raised southern packages of bees, 3lbs of bees and a queen bee in a cage. (Packages) Packages are the most commonly purchased colony start option available to beekeepers in the United States, comprising roughly 80% of all new colonies started in New England.

The second colony group (1/3 of our project) was comprised of northern raised overwintered nucleus colonies, a northern raised queen and her offspring, 5 frames of bees, along with honey comb, pollen, and nectar stores (Nucs). Northern raised nucleus colonies are less commonly purchased because they are less available for sale – the demand for Northern Raised Nucs vastly outstrips the supply in New England.

The third colony group we included is a compromise between the above two choices. Once the packages were established in hives in Maine, and when northern raised queens were available (approximately 60 days after package installation), we removed the queens from half of the package started colonies and replaced them with northern raised and mated queens. (Requeened Packages)

We then managed each colony independently and measured their honey production, disease and mite load, and most importantly, survival over winter to see if there were differences between the Packages, Nucs, Requeened Packages.

Our results were very promising in the survival differences. In over two years, the adjusted data for survival revealed the following: 42% of the southern commercially raised package colonies survived their fist winter strong enough to be a viable colony in the following summer. 83% of the overwintered northern raised Nucleus colonies were in viable condition, and 90% of the northern requeened packages were in viable condition the following spring.

In our project, the Nucs experienced nearly twice the survival rate of the Packages. Additionally, the Requeened Packages also experienced a survival rate nearly double the rate of the “as bought” Packages.

Although executed over two years, our sample size was small (54 colonies started total, but only 39 included in this final data due to colony disqualification) and therefore could be subject to seasonal and statistical error. We will be performing additional work narrowing the study groups to just Packages and Requeened Packages in 2013. We hope to improve the statistical significance of our results through further study, but feel strongly that the promise shown by our first two years offers New England beekeepers an attractive option for increasing the survival of new colonies.

Introduction:

Honey bees are crucial to successful agriculture and environmental health, and the overall decline of honey bee health has become front-page news for the past several years. In recent years, the annual mortality rate of honey bee colonies in Maine has steadily increased due primarily to the parasitic Varroa mite and associated diseases. Additionally, beekeeping costs are increasing due to the increased cost of replacement colonies, queens, specialized equipment, medications and transportation.

Currently most New England beekeepers rely on “package bees” and Southern or West Coast raised queen bees to restart their hives or establish new hives. These are generally “Italian” race honey bees and they generally come from commercial suppliers in Georgia, Alabama, Texas, or California. These colonies of honey bees are often not well suited for the New England climate and are less effective in honey production and pollination in this area than they are in milder areas. Many hives started with packaged bees do not survive the winter. Packaged bees are, by definition, stressed colonies. They are far more susceptible to downturns in spring weather conditions, disease transmission, and pest and parasite infestation. Unfortunately packaged honey bees are the most widely used and promoted method of starting new colonies across the nation, including in Maine.

Many beekeepers feel that the sustainability of beekeeping hinges on new ways of operating that depend on local bee and queen breeders to produce replacement and new starting colonies in their area. However, due to the short queen rearing season in New England, in this part of the country local colonies are often difficult to find and often not available until well after the primary honey flow and pollination seasons are over (Queens are usually not available until Mid-June, long after the Apple and other pollination seasons are over).

Hives started with a locally raised over-wintered nucleus colony, “nucs” have a greater potential to develop into a strong, sustainable colony than a colony started with a package. Over wintered nucs are made up of honey bees in all stages of development as well as food (honey and pollen), a laying locally raised queen bee that has “proven” her abilities through her first winter, and enough nurse, worker, and field bees to build up into a strong full strength colony over the course of the spring and summer. Essentially the nuc is a “micro hive” with an already established organization that allows for rapid expansion. Over-wintered nucs are nucleus colonies that are created from “parent” hives in the prior summer, when the “parent” colony can easily replace the frames of brood and bees used to create the nuc. The Queens also are raised and mated in the previous summer and “prove” their successful mating and development by heading the over-wintered nuc from creation, through winter, until the following spring when they are used as the foundation for the new production colony. Locally raised overwintered nucs are not subjected to the stresses of package bee production, they demand less antibiotic and other chemical use, and they are not subjected to the shock that can be caused by transporting bees from one climate to another. Travel time for transportation to the new location is generally only a few hours so the confinement period for the bees is short and adaptation to the new location nearly immediate.

Unfortunately, overwintered nucleus colonies both are technically difficult and expensive (in sheer dollars and in hive resources) to produce and sell. There are a very limited number of beekeepers producing overwintered nucs and current demand vastly outstrips supply. While the number of overwintered nucs available for sale is increasing, demand for these colonies is increasing at a much higher rate and the beekeepers are unable to keep up. For these reasons it is often difficult or nearly impossible for many beekeepers to utilize overwintered nucs for their replacement or starter colonies.

Our project demonstrated a compromise option between Overwintered Nucs and Packaged bee colonies. Since all honey bees in the colony with the exception of the queen live for less than two months in the summer, and all offspring of the queen are genetically determined by the queen and her mates when she is less than two weeks old, it is very simple to change the genetic make-up of a colony of honey bees. Our strategy is to re-queen purchased packages with northern raised queens as soon as such queens become available (mid-late June). Once accepted by the colony, the northern raised queens will produce offspring that are better suited to winter over in the New England climate, and by the end of August, our re-queened colonies will be comprised entirely of honey bees which are offspring of the northern raised queen. Our final survival results show that both the requeened packages and northern raised nucs had significantly higher winter survival rates than the commercial packages.

Our project therefore offers two potential alternatives to the traditional treadmill of purchasing commercial packaged bees in the spring and losing the colony over the winter. Our data demonstrates that despite the many threats to Maine honey bee colonies, sustainability is achievable by maintaining healthy colonies of northern raised honey bees that are particularly well adapted to our climatic conditions.

The project methodology and results demonstrate alternative sustainable methods of beekeeping by starting new and rebuilding dead colonies while getting off of the “treadmill” of packaged bees and commercially raised queens. The project shows the viability and superiority of local (Maine and New England) alternatives to packaged bees with commercially raised queens from the South by the fact that the both the Nucs and Requeened packages experienced significantly higher survival rates. It is important to note that the commercial packages are required for the “requeened package” colony start option, and that it is the replacement of the package queen with a northern raised queen that apparently increases the survival rates in the “requeened packages.”