New Nuc with Virgin Queen

[Noustie]

Hi all

I have a Nuc with a newly hatched queen ( which I have not seen ), how long will she take to mate and how long should I leave it for an inspection.

1 frame of brood/food . 4 frames of foundation

Noustie

 

[theengraver]

hi
give her a good week to get mated depending on weather and then another week to settle in to start laying you should then have eggs and some lava
as you have not seen the queen this will give you the heads up that shes there and ok

 

[Midland Beek]

No point in disturbing them. The window of opportunity in respect of queen matings is perhaps as long as a month, but you would expect to see eggs of some sort after 21+ days from emergence.

 

[Noustie]

I noticed today quite a bit of pollen going in .

 

[Midland Beek]

Even if there are no larvae to feed a workers will still collect pollen.

One frame of brood/food and four frames of foundation kind of says you need to feed. It is what you would not call a 'tremendously viable' nuc .. one that needs to be nursed.

 

[Noustie]

I have a top feeder on and they have taken 1 kg in a week .

I thought the pollen coming in was a positive sign ? Was I wrong ?

 

[Midland Beek]

A colony (however small) working with a will and bringing in pollen is a positive sign, especially if we are talking big clumps of pollen.