Hi everyone! I'm new to this forum

[Mac12]

I'm new to beekeeping and I'm fishing for effective ideas on how to keep my bees alive. I don't want to waste the money I paid for to purchase my nuc. I'm probably the only non-UK resident member in this forum, hopefully not.

Anyway, my first question is, do I have to immediately transfer the bees from a nuc into a hive or can I allow the bees to stay in the nuc for a couple of weeks?

I've read somewhere that a nuc is basically a small hive. Does this mean that I can keep the bees in the nuc for a while until I have improved my carpentry skills and make a hive? Will the bees not swarm considering the small space in the nuc?

Hoping for someone to answer my queries. Thank you!

 

[Skyhook]

Hi Mac, welcome to the forum. You're certainly not the only non-uk beekeeper here, but you may well be our only Phillipines-based member!

I would think that the answer is that your bees should be moved into a hive ASAP; but I'm afraid my ignorance of the phillipines lets me down. Could you tell us- what time of year it is there, what the temperature is, and what sort of temperatures you can expect over, say, the next couple of months?

Also- is it a good solid nuc box, or a thinner more temporary one for selling bees in?

The more information you can give, the better grade of answer you will generally get on the forum.

 

[Rosti]

Welcome ..... and exactly what Skyhook has said, would just add forage to that list. When are the main bee accessible nectar yielding sources available?

 

[Hombre]

Hi Mac12, I'm thinking that your climate is tropical, not unlike Malaysia and Singapore?

That being the case I imagine that there is plenty of forage around and the bees are doing well.

If your five frame nuc has three good frames of brood, then I wouldn't want to wait too long.

If you see that queen cells being made, then your woodworking skills had better happen quickly.

Bees may produce play cups, like the cup of an acorn or even start queen cells, but unless there is an egg and some royal jelly in it, then the bees haven't declared their intention to swarm.

I would think that if you have only just received your five frame nuc of bees, that a week or two should be good, but perhaps you could ask your supplier, who will know how full the nuc was when you picked it up and be able to advise you how long it might be until they were likely to be running out of space. Probably better than me guessing in fact.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[nelletap]

Another welcome - I can't add much more than the others, but I hope you enjoy your bees as much as i have since my first colony was purchased just last july.
Tricia