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Don’t Throw Out Your Nuc Box: More Uses Than You Think

Writer's picture: Trevor BawdenTrevor Bawden

Updated: Apr 25, 2024

When you receive your nuc from us, it comes packaged in a white plastic box called an EZ Nuc or Jester Nuc box. These boxes are totally reusable and can handle a significant amount of abuse in the field, we literally throw them around when they are empty at the

bee yards. Unlike waxed cardboard nuc boxes that other bee suppliers use, our boxes won’t warp and degrade when left in the field. They are also superior to the Pro Nucs we

VSH nucs
Nuc boxes secured and ready to be transported to the next bee yard

have seen being used. The reason is that our boxes have a tight seal on the entrance so no bees leak out, additional ventilation and not an over abundance of space. This extra spaces can cause large amounts of burr comb on the sides of the frames in position one and five.

We have had some of our boxes used for as long as five seasons before we decided to retire them after years of aggressive use.

We love them so much that we have started to use them as our go to for queen mating during the season. Here are a few suggestions for uses of these boxes:





mating virgin queen bees
Nuc boxes arranged on a pallet for virgin queen mating

  • Mating a virgin queen. Once the queen is mated, you can easily transport the nuc to another yard or reuse it again with another virgin queen.

  • Making splits using a mated queen. This is a nice temporary home until they fill the space and require being moved into larger equipment.

  • A safe place to hold the frame containing a queen during a hive inspection. Once the frame with the queen is placed in the nuc, you no longer need to worry about crushing her during the rest of your inspection or splitting process.

  • Transferring bees between yards

  • Harvesting frames of honey. This keeps the frames sealed up once the bees are brushed off so that the bees can’t find their way back on them on the way to the extraction area.

  • Storing drawn comb in the offseason in your garage or shed.

Whatever use you may find for the box, just make sure you don’t throw them away! We are always happy to have you donate your boxes back to us when you pick up a nuc or a queen from us. If you have any uses we forgot to mention, drop us a line as we would love to hear them.


VSH nuc
This nuc is stuffed with bees and is more than ready to be upgraded to a larger home

Thanks for supporting local beekeeping!


Trevor Bawden

Lloyd St. Bees



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