Getting a Nuc tomorrow!!

[Juliebeebee]

Hi all

I'm so excited, getting a nuc tomorrow! I kept bees for a few years (still class myself as a beginner) but both my hives were wrecked by wasps. I'm getting a nuc tomorrow night. Do I feed the bees when i put them in the hive? and if so, what should i give them?

Thanks

Jules

 

[drex]

If it is a decent nucs with full frames and plenty of bees, yes it can go into a hive. However it may benefit from staying in the nucs box for a week or two. When put in the hive put a frame of foundation either side of the brood nest. Gradually add frames as they draw them. Put the frames against a wall of the hive with a dummy the other side of the frames. You can feed 2:1 syrup to help with frame drawing if there is not much nectar locally.

 

[enrico]

Good luck, I really hope it goes well
Keep us informed
E

 

[Repwoc]

getting a nuc tomorrow!

Do you know what sort of nuc box / hive they will come in?

 

[The Poot in Somerset]

Exciting times Jules - I remember getting my first one from Exmoor and the happy buzz from the back of the car on the way home.
I hope things go well for you.

 

[ericbeaumont]

but both my hives were wrecked by wasps. I'm getting a nuc tomorrow night. Do I feed the bees when i put them in the hive? and if so, what should i give them?

I like your positive delight, Julie, but you have a job ahead of you to strengthen the nuc sufficient to enable it to withstand the storm on the horizon: wasps.

Much depends on whether you have 6 frames of drawn comb available or only foundation, and whether a nectar flow is in progress. Drawn comb + flow means they can forage and you won't need to feed. If they have foundation + no flow then syrup will be needed continuously.

Without income the bees will not feed the Q and she in turn will not lay, and lay she must to build the colony strong enough for winter; bear in mind that too much feed too quickly may occupy brood space otherwise needed by the queen for laying, so feed slowly over a longer period.

Wasps can smell syrup but bees can't, so don't spill any and refill at dusk when wasps are retiring; reduce the hive entrance to one bee space and keep an eye on wasp activity in the coming weeks. If the colony is attacked, consider moving it three miles away until the frosts arrive and wasps decline. I know the books have tricks with panes of glass and what-not, but once wasps start they don't give up.

There are floor designs that may limit an attack: JBM's underfloor entrance, Millet's tunnel entrance, or Enrico's cable trunking design.