It is often said there is a shortage of bees in the U.K. and Beekeeping Associations can't produce enough bees to satisfy their beginners needs. This often results in the BKA or the beginner sourcing nucs where they can, that may be from undesirable and unreliable sources. I have often seen some appalling nuc's being sold, one in particular had 2 frames of foundation in what was sold as a 5 frame nuc! With the increase in demand there have been a few suppliers appear who simply slap a few frames together and put a cheap imported queen with it.

It has become common for bee farmers to buy bees early in the season, often to make up for winter losses. The method described, together with sensible management, will help them.

At one stage I had a large number of colonies. Through necessity I found ways of producing bees quickly, even when using non-prolific bees. Some of the techniques I have used have been put together in what I have called the "Roger Patterson Method" that is accessible as a PDF from the button on the top left.

On this website there are many other methods of increasing the number of colonies, some not normally taught or seen in books, so please explore them by clicking the "Colony Increase" button top left.

Roger Patterson.

Page updated 06/03/2019