Approaching first week…

[andyww]

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Hi,
I am new to bee keeping. I have attended a course throughout the winter and I've now embarked on my own.
Last week my nuc got delivered. I let it settle for a day, then carefully transferred the 5 frames into my brood box.
The general guidance is to leave them alone for a week. I'm trying to do this although the temptation to open them up is pretty great. That said each night I check the feed and top up.

So as my first proper inspections dawns I’m after some advice please:

1. After a week of hot weather should I expect all the foundation frames to be drawn out?
2. On the frames that have been drawn out what would you expect to be there, stores or brood
3. From experience I know I should be checking for evidence of queen, be looking for eggs for this, then space, laying pattern, disease, stores, queen cells – anything else I should keep a look out for?
4. The front of the hive doesn't seem particular busy – is this normal of a nuc?
5. At which point should I stop feeding?
6. At which point should I should put a second brood box on?
Cheers

Andy.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Don't expect all the foundation to be drawn out yet. Although, at this time of the year i give a nuc the whole box in one go - a lot on here go for a bit of cossetting with just a few frames to draw and the rest dummied up and muffled up with all kinds of insulation.
Shouldn't think you need any feeding now - when you open up just confirm they have the equivalent of one frame full of stores - that should last them until the next weeks inspection if the weather turns bad - there's a good flow on at the moment so leave them to it otherwise they will end up filling up all available space with stores with nowhere for the queen to lay.
A lot depends on the state of the nuc when you got it - was it just made up from a few brood frames with a new queen introduced or is it a colony that has been built up with the queen - how many frames of brood did you see when you hived them?
At the moment most bees will probably be tending the brood so you won't see that many fliers, and that is why you shouldn't feed too much - you want them tending the brood to get built up quickly.
You don't need a super on until you have at least seven frames of brood IMHO although if the population is exploding you could risk it on six.
You should be checking for stores, room to lay, presence of queen, brood in all stages and queen cells - disease yes, but this normally is just a cursory check - a full disease check should be the whole inspection a few times a year to the exclusion of everything else.

 

[oliver90owner]

Reading up on the plusses and minuses of feeding a nuc would be a good start. After all, it should have arrived with adequate stores.

Think here: What do you want? More bees or more stores?

I would advise refreshing your current knowledge base from a good beekeeping book. Your expecations may not be quite so high if you were to do that.

 

[Davelin]

1. No, think that's a bit optimistic.
If on a five frame nuc probably best to add a couple of frames of foundation then a dummy board when you put into full size brood box, and then add foundation as they draw frames out.
Too late now and it's been warm so probably no harm done.

2. One or the other, both or neither!

3. No, think you have most things covered.

4. Wouldn't be too worried.

5. When they have drawn out foundation and have some stores, they should quickly become self sufficient if the weather stays good.

6. What type of brood box? Presumably National. Rule of thumb when 7 or 8 frames of brood. You may well find you don't need a second box this year.

Good Luck.

 

[andyww]

Cool, thanks for the replies.
The NUC looked like it came from established colony. There was about 2 frames of brood.
My reading / research tended to suggest feeding to assist the bees as drawing out the foundation takes quite a bit.

Yes it’s a national hive, I'm conscious of not setting my expectations extremely high, just trying to establish a bit of baseline from the vast array of knowledge / experience here. That way when I inspect I can judge whereabouts I am.

In the event that they have more stores then they need would the correct course of action be to remove said frame(s) and replace with empty ones (would be foundation only as I don’t have any pre drawn ones)?

Cheers.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I think they will be able to sort themselves out - you could have kept them in the nuc for a few more weeks really, but it's nice and warm so they should manage - albeit a bit slowly.

 

[YorkshireBees]

Cool, thanks for the replies.
The NUC looked like it came from established colony. There was about 2 frames of brood.
My reading / research tended to suggest feeding to assist the bees as drawing out the foundation takes quite a bit.

Yes it’s a national hive, I'm conscious of not setting my expectations extremely high, just trying to establish a bit of baseline from the vast array of knowledge / experience here. That way when I inspect I can judge whereabouts I am.

In the event that they have more stores then they need would the correct course of action be to remove said frame(s) and replace with empty ones (would be foundation only as I don’t have any pre drawn ones)?

Cheers.

I sincerely hope there was more brood in all stages than just 2 frames in a 5 frame Nuc!

The Fera leaflet about Sale of Nucs states

Brood. At least 3 frames with brood should be present. Brood and eggs in all stages should occupy at least half the total comb area, with no brood cycle break. At least 30% of the total comb area should be sealed brood. No more than 15% of the total comb area should be drone brood. There should be no active queen cells at any stage of development.

I recently have had 2 x 6-Frame Nucs collected and both customers inspected before taking them away. Both very happy customers with 4-5 Frames of brood and 1-2 stores!
One of the customers mentioned that they had bought a Nuc elsewhere (cheaper than mine) that had only 2 frames of brood and 3 frames that were only just drawn out from foundation the week after he collected!

I really wish people would be aware of what they should be getting when they buy a Nuc!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

The less scrupulous just get a couple of brood frames collected from their other hives, introduce a queen, then as soon as she is accepted sell it as a nuc.

 

[YorkshireBees]

The less scrupulous just get a couple of brood frames collected from their other hives, introduce a queen, then as soon as she is accepted sell it as a nuc.

In which case I should order 50 Queens cos I could make that many weak Nucs up easily!

Seriously a 5 Frame Nuc to me should have 3-4 Frames Bias + 1-2 stores / space.

The last of my Nuc's made earlier has been reserved for a customer who only wants to collect end of 1st week in July. It was bursting at the seams so I have put it into a full size Poly BB and within 2 weeks it has used every frame!
The upside is that they, hopefully, will not ge too crowded and swarm and when I re-make the 6F Nuc for delivery I will probably be left with enough brood / bees to start another Nuc.

A strong Nuc should be able to expand like that!

 

[jd101k2000]

Yes, the nuc I just sold was like that. Busting with bees and brood. It's the first one I have sold. Feeling a bit empty... Knew the queen as a sealed queen cell I think she is off to a good home, though.

If people don't buy the other one soon, I may be tempted to keep it.

 

[HM Honey]

Hi andyww

When I got my first NUC, I fed it light syrup continuously until ALL frames had been fully drawn. I also do this with any swarms I collect. ALL have grown into strong colonies.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

If there is loads of stores, then you can hold off feeding for a week and see how they are. You don't need to remove any stores on drawn comb as they have space for now; just let them get on with it; they will draw comb and rearrange things themselves. Bees have been looking after themselves for many years - well before we started messing with them! 2 frames of brood is not enough IMO which is the reason why they are not flying much. However, they will grow and can still be viable for the winter.

 

[sail819]

very good advice indeed