Why Track Nucs and Splits in Nectar?
By logging splits and Frames of Brood harvested, you gain the data needed to:
Balance Revenue vs. Health: Understand the trade-off between nuc sales and honey production/winter survivorship.
Evaluate Inputs: Identify which queen suppliers or pollen patty brands actually yield more brood.
Identify Elite Genetics: Pinpoint "super-hives" to mark as future breeders or learn which queen lines are providing more brood production.
Optimize Locations: Discover which yards are your "nurseries" and which are your "honey makers."
The Nectar Method: Precision Tracking
We recommend a two-part approach to capture both the biological impact and the inventory move:
1 - The FoBrood Harvested Slider: Used on the "Donor" hive to record exactly how many frames of brood were removed. This tracks the impact on the colony’s future performance.
2 - The 'Nuc' Practice: Applied to the newly created unit. This acts as an inventory tag, allowing you to track how many nucs you have, where your nucs are, and how they turn out down the line.
Step-by-Step: From Grading to Analysis
Step A: Grade Strength to Identify Donor Yards
Before splitting, use the Nectar app to perform a yard-wide grading. Whether you use Frames of Bees or a simple Strong/Medium/Weak scale, this data flows to your Manager Portal (MP).
In Insights: Use the Splits Dashboard to see which yards to target, and when.
Decision Making: Use these Insights to target yards ready for harvesting brood, ensuring you aren't over-stressing weaker yards.
Step B: Record the Splitting (The Donor Hive)
When you are at the hive and pull brood for a split:
Use a hive inspection to record the number of Frames of Brood harvested for each hive.
Even entering this data for a percentage (5-20%) of hives in a yard can lead to actionable data on Brood Production in your operation.
If you need to track the total Nucs or splits produced per yard, use the 'Nucs Produced' Slider in the Yard Inspection Report
Step C: Create the Inventory (The New Nuc)
Once the split is made:
Apply the 'Nuc' Practice to the new unit.
When you Transfer the nuc to a regular box, use the 'Nuc-Transferred' practice to reduce the nuc count.
If your splits are not 'Nucs', You can still track them by creating a custom "Splits" practice to apply instead.
Analyzing in the Manager Portal
Once your field data syncs, the Manager Portal (MP) turns those numbers into business intelligence through the Insights Dashboards. Navigate to the Splits dashboard to see ready made insights related to Splits.
Key Insights for Brood Production:
Total Frames of Brood Harvested
Avg Frames of Brood Harvested per hive per Yard
Frames of Brood Harvested per Queen Type
How Much Feed Drives How much Brood?
Frames of Brood Harvested vs AVG Varroa per Queen Type
And more!
Key Insights for Nuc Tracking:
Nucs Per Yard
Total Nucs Created
Nucs Over Time
And more!
Shaking Bees
Do you shake bees for Packages or for your own splits? If so, you can track this with the Pounds of Bees Shaken Slider in the Yard Inspection form.
