hiving my nuc

[Mikeb123]

Hi all,

I received my first nuc early today and swapped it into the hive this evening. All went well other than not seeing the queen. I thought she would be and easy spot with the amount of bees but it's probably my inexperienced eye. I did find an empty queen cell which I squashed. Do you think I should double check she's in there tomorrow or am I being paranoid :-/

Thanks

 

[Mikeb123]

also I'm on an open mesh floor should I have the inspection board in or out at this point?

 

[Queens59]

Leave them be for a few days, as they may get jumpy if inspected too soon...and in this heat I would leave the board out. Just pop it in now and then to check varroa levels... Good Luck!

 

[Mikeb123]

Ok thanks. Out of curiosity if a hive was queenless how long would it be until they flew off?

 

[Griffo]

I picked up my first nuc last Saturday night and put it in a hive Sunday afternoon. The bees were flying around in a cloud around the hive on Monday, which had me worried. I gave them half a litre of sugar syrup in a contact feeder and they calmed down very quickly. Might be worth a try. Like you, I still haven't found the queen, though I've only inspected once. Will be having another look tomorrow night.

 

[Heather]

Just one point.. I would never dump a queen cell unless I saw day old eggs, original queen or good brood pattern- just in case they knew more than I did.

 

[BeeNice]

If you got the nuc from a seller ( or anyone for that matter )you should have a laying queen, when you rehouse a nuc all you want to do is get into the hive as quickly as possible with as little fuss as possible, not looking for queens etc. (mind you, you shouldn't of had queen cell unless you have been told that the nuc was making them) Leave them to it, in a few days you should see pollen going in, and yes give them a feed to start them off storing. On the first inspection look for eggs, don't worry about finding queens, leave this for a later date once the bees have really settled.

 

[Outlander]

If you got the nuc from a seller ( or anyone for that matter )you should have a laying queen, when you rehouse a nuc all you want to do is get into the hive as quickly as possible with as little fuss as possible, not looking for queens etc. (mind you, you shouldn't of had queen cell unless you have been told that the nuc was making them) Leave them to it, in a few days you should see pollen going in, and yes give them a feed to start them off storing. On the first inspection look for eggs, don't worry about finding queens, leave this for a later date once the bees have really settled.

With the above. Also agree should not have had a QC in there. unless it was sold to you with the knowledge it was there. Good luck with your bees.

 

[Cazza]

also I'm on an open mesh floor should I have the inspection board in or out at this point?

Leave it out, especially as it is hot.

An empty queen cell should be nothing to worry about.

Cazza

 

[dickbowyer]

Was it a queen cell with a larva floating in royal jelly or an empty queen cup?

 

[Mikeb123]

an empty cup. I'm guessing just a play cup and nothing to worry about. They were bringing back plenty of pollen since 5am this morning so I'm thinking things are ok

 

[sail819]

If you got the nuc from a seller ( or anyone for that matter )you should have a laying queen, when you rehouse a nuc all you want to do is get into the hive as quickly as possible with as little fuss as possible, not looking for queens etc. (mind you, you shouldn't of had queen cell unless you have been told that the nuc was making them) Leave them to it, in a few days you should see pollen going in, and yes give them a feed to start them off storing. On the first inspection look for eggs, don't worry about finding queens, leave this for a later date once the bees have really settled.

Totally agree with the above statement.