Here we go...

[flotess]

Having waited to catch a passing swarm I gave it to my enthusiasm and yesterday collected a nuc from a supplier in Banbury. Firstly, and treading carefully so as to not raise the hackles of the ad police, they have been supremely helpful. Before, during and immediately after collection. So thoroughly recommended.
I got the nuc home and invited a local beek who has been advising me and allowed me to test my metal with his bees around to have a look. We (well, I with his comforting gaze) transferred the nuc to the hive. The girls didn’t even require any smoke and he said they seem very calm. I guess the weather helped!
The nuc has a bit of everything and I’m thinking that the forecast is good enough for them to keep busy without any additional feed building out their new home.
I spent the afternoon wandering down to the bottom of the paddock to ‘check they were ok’ (read – couldn’t stop watching them). They were busy circling the hive making sure they don’t get lost in the future. This morning there are fewer bees circling so I’m guessing they now know what home looks like and are off adventuring.
My daughters (3 & 5) found one on the side of the paddling pool (filled with buckets not hose!! ;-)) and got close enough to watch it sucking up droplets of water. That’ll be re-told at school on Monday!
My plan is to leave them to it and check after 6/7 days how the home-making is going. If it looks good I might swap positions of the last brood frame with an un-drawn frame. Your thoughts?
Anyways… let the adventure begin!

 

[susbees]

It is exciting...but please give them another water supply ...big dish with gravel say...and put the pool away til they fix on it. My ten year old got a bee caught in her hair Friday 200m or more and two high hedges away from our hives and ended up with a nasty sting. Smaller children could be put off bees....and you still only have a few....

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

 

[For want of a better word]

Hope you have not bought a nuc of bumblebees... there are some unscrupulous folk around...........

Remember the Rat that Miguel was sold as a Hamster in Faulty Towers ![/​

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[flotess]

Thanks susbees... good call! Bucket with rocks and water now 5m from the hive!

 

[FreeFall]

If it looks good I might swap positions of the last brood frame with an un-drawn frame. Your thoughts?

I think I'm right in saying that you shouldn't do that, as you will be exposing the brood. Better to put an undrawn frame between the brood and stores if you're in a hurry to draw them out.

Personally I would just leave them to it, maybe turn the outside frames around once they get that far, to get them to draw the other side.

 

[rae]

They are a nuc, so I would not be moving frames around at this stage. When you have 5 or 6 frames of brood and a good strong colony, sure. Leave them to grow, and as long as the weather holds, no need to feed.

When you check them in a few days, as well as looking for queen and brood, check for new nectar coming in (looks like cells full of water). No idea what the forage is like round you, so it is worth checking that they have something.

Also - at the first inspection, no need to see the queen. If you have eggs, she's in there somewhere.

 

[flotess]

Great advice. The queen came marked and I spotted her when transferring the nuc to the hive. so shouldn't be tough to find later in the week.

There's lots of activity but whilst I sat and starred this afternoon noticed no obvious pollen on the returning bees. Would they still be orienting or are they struggling to find forage? Nearest OSR is about three quarters of a mile but they are on the outskirts of a small village so surrounded by fields. Lots of buttercups in the fields atm.

Thanks for your continued help and interest!!

Mark

 

[Ziggymole]

Hi Mark,

I would imagine, though I don't know, that it will take a while for the bees to get to know thier new area. BUT

How do they locate their food? Smell, sight, luck?

All the best
Jan

 

[flotess]

If it was up to my daughters they'd just follow the signs they've placed around the garden pointing to the flowers!!

 

[Ziggymole]

Aww Bless em.

 

[flotess]

View attachment 6606
This is the oldest (5), who remained captivated for 10 minutes!

 

[jackbee]

If it was up to my daughters they'd just follow the signs they've placed around the garden pointing to the flowers!!

that is so cute!

 

[Luminos]

 

[rae]

Bee vision is shifted to shorter wavelengths - so they see UV and colours towards blue. They are "red-blind". No idea what a field of OSR looks like in UV, but from the reaction of the average hive, it probably shines like a searchlight.