A nucleus colony, which is a small, fully functioning honeybee colony used to start a new hive. It typically consists of three to five frames containing drawn comb, brood in all stages, honey, pollen, worker bees, and a laying queen. Beekeepers buy or split nucs because they establish much faster than packaged bees.
Heard on the job
I picked up five nucs from the breeder this morning and need to transfer them into deep boxes this afternoon.
Also heard as
- nucleus colony
Do not mix it up with
- Nucleus: Nuc is the common shorthand for the colony itself, while nucleus can refer to either the colony or the small box that holds it.