Made up nuc advice

[beenovice]

I have just made up a nuc by taking a spare frame with a capped queen cell after my AS. I added two more frames of brood with bees, a frame of capped stores from storage, and a frame of foundation.
I have placed them all in a NYC box and placed the lid on. I then stuffed the hole with grass.
What now? Is this correct? How long do I leave the grass etc etc.

 

[Dishmop]

I have just made up a nuc by taking a spare frame with a capped queen cell after my AS. I added two more frames of brood with bees, a frame of capped stores from storage, and a frame of foundation.
I have placed them all in a NYC box and placed the lid on. I then stuffed the hole with grass.
What now? Is this correct? How long do I leave the grass etc etc.

The bees will remove the grass as long as you havent glued it in.

 

[lukestew]

i would feed them syrup if you can as they will be not a great number of bees to support themselves if the weather is not good. The grass will wither away as long as its not packed too tight.

 

[Davelin]

They should be fine; the only other thing you could have done was shake some more nurse bees into the box as you made it up.

 

[newportbuzz]

apply time to let queen mate, watch for store levels, feed as nessary.

 

[Midland Beek]

Two common shortcomings:-

1/ Not enough bees added to nuc. Remember that any bee that knows how to fly will head back home as soon as the nuc is opened up.

2/ With no foragers on account of the above, syrup can always be fed. But ... you can't feed pollen, so try and make sure that any nuc is provisioned with at least some pollen.

Put a plug of grass in the hole once and went on holiday for a week. Came back and it was still there, but not a single bee dead or any harm seemingly done.

 

[fiftyjon]

i would feed them syrup if you can as they will be not a great number of bees to support themselves if the weather is not good. The grass will wither away as long as its not packed too tight.

Feeding syrup to a newly made up nuc in the same apiary as the parent hive can cause it to be robbed. Delay feeding (and only if necessary, since you have added a frame of stores) for a day or two allows any foragers that were on the frames in the nuc to go back to the original hive. Fondant can be a safer option.

 

[newportbuzz]

Feeding syrup to a newly made up nuc in the same apiary as the parent hive can cause it to be robbed. Delay feeding (and only if necessary, since you have added a frame of stores) for a day or two allows any foragers that were on the frames in the nuc to go back to the original hive. Fondant can be a safer option.

defo fondant if ya can get some. i use it on most of my nucs in the summer when they are made up. altho i give them a frame to draw aswell.