John Gates has been a beekeeper for 43 years. He served as the Apiculture Specialist British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture, Apiculture Program 1975-2002. He was a full-time commercial beekeeper from 2002-2015, specializing in bee breeding, stock production and pollination. He has lectured widely in Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the Caribbean. Today, John joined us to talk about how you can build your own stock and offset colony losses by making nucleus colonies (nucs).
Listen in to learn about how John got started with nucleus colonies, how he has influenced other beekeepers, and what he saw change in his bees over time.
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“I started with Dr. Laidlaw’s book in one hand and a grafting needle in the other, trying to figure out what the heck I was doing. It took a while until I was successful grafting those first few larvae.“ – John Gates
Show Notes:
- What a “nuc” or nucleus colony is
- What got John into making nucs
- Reflection on John’s time working with British Columbia beekeeping legend John Corner
- Why John’s operation of developing nucs brought in even more income than expected
- The timeline of a nuc-making operation
- How queen rearing fits into nuc production
- John’s work with the British Columbia government revealed the importance of nuc-making to a profitable business
- How stock improvement integrates into John’s beekeeping system
- The importance of queen rearing workshops in getting the ball rolling
“I guess there had been some people producing queens in the past, but we didn’t really know much about it, so we just wanted to see if it was possible here. Can we produce good quality queens that will winter well, will be productive and gentle?“ – John Gates
Links Mentioned:
- Learn more about how to work nuc production into a business plan with Preparing a Business Plan: Beekeeper Example (BC Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Foods)
- Check out Preparation and Evaluation of Six-Frame Nuclei Wintered Indoors (McKenna and Nelson, 1981)