Printemps - Planification et préparation des ruchettes en apiculture biologique

Spring - Planning and preparing Dadant nucleus (nuc) in organic beekeeping

Preparation for the beekeeping season mainly consists of planning the beeswax in order to make new frames, preparing the hives for the creation of new colonies.

Painting our hives is our current work in preparation for the season. We use a natural linseed oil - LuxLin - made locally in Luxembourg.

What is a nucleus colony (nuc)?

The beehive (nuc) is a versatile and essential tool for the beekeeper, allowing them to effectively manage bee colonies and develop their apiary. A nucleus is a small wooden hive, composed of 6 frames in our Dadant format, used in beekeeping for:

  • Formation of new swarms: It is used to accommodate a small group of bees, including a queen, to start a new colony.
  • Queen Rearing: Hives are ideal for queen rearing because they provide a small, manageable space for young queens to develop.
  • Making hive divisions: Beekeepers use hives to divide an existing colony into two or more colonies, thus increasing the number of hives.
  • Swarm Transport: Its small size makes it easy to transport bee swarms, whether to move them to a new apiary or to sell them.
  • Transitional hive: It can serve as a temporary hive for a captured swarm before transferring it to a larger hive.
  • Observation and monitoring: The small size of a hive makes it easy to observe and monitor bees, which is especially useful for beginners.

Preparing hives for the beekeeping season

  • Cleaning and Disinfection: We carefully clean and disinfect the hives that will be used for swarms or divisions. We use a blowtorch since we work with wooden hives and hives.
  • Repair: We repair damaged hives with painting and replace worn frames.
  • Painting: We use natural, local linseed oil to meet organic standards - organic beekeeping.

Our choice for LUXLIN® is the oak color to have a yellow tint. The product is natural with raw materials harvested locally in Luxembourg on land in Birelergronn, between Sandweiler and Neiheisgen. The land is located on natural sources of drinking water in the city of Luxembourg and the cultivation of flax, which requires neither pesticides nor chemical fertilizers, promotes and ensures the sustainability of the water tables and a judicious and ecologically sustainable use of these highly protected lands. The harvested seeds are then transported to Kalborn to BEO where the linseed oil is then pressed to be used in LUXLIN® . It is therefore a 100% Luxembourg product in line with the philosophy of the circular economy . It also won the 2017 FEDIL Environment Prize, Circular Economy category.

Linseed oil - LuxLin - does not emit toxic fumes, as it is free of VOCs and APEOs.

Preparing embossed waxes for the beekeeping season

  • Preparation of frames: We prepare the frames with embossed wax to facilitate the construction of combs by the bees.

Asian hornet prevention

  • Trapping the foundresses: We set selective traps to capture the Asian hornet foundresses, which begin to emerge from hibernation in February.

Our linseed oil to protect our hives:

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