Nucs are a great way to get your hive up and running. It basically is a miniature hive in a 5-frame box. The biggest advantages to buying a nuc over a package are that the queen is already accepted and laying eggs in the hive, and there are many cells with older larva or capped brood that will be producing workers within a week or so. The nuc will already be starting to grow into a full sized productive hive from the first day you get it. A package on the other hand has a delay due to getting the queen accepted and released. If she is a virgin then getting her bred (and hoping she makes it back from the mating flights), and then for her to start laying. Then you have three weeks before any brood emerges. So easily the nuc could put you a month ahead of a package when it comes to building up.
OCB will have two types of nucs available, over-wintered, and summer nucs. Over-wintered nucs are just that. They are nucs that were started in the fall and have over wintered here in Ohio. This gives some confidence they are stock that is able to handle our weather conditions. Summer nucs are ones that are made up in the Spring time for sale in late Spring or early Summer. Summer nucs are made from the same stock that our over wintered nucs came from, but these nucs have not yet proven their over wintering capabilities and therefore are priced slightly lower than over wintered nucs.
$50.00 deposit per nuc required when you place your order. Balance due on pickup of your nucs.

Over-wintered nuc, $195.00

Russian hybrid queen – Out of stock.
Survivor stock queen – Out of stock. 

Summer nuc, $165.00

Russian hybrid queen – Out of stock.
Survivor stock queen – Out of stock.