Noob with nuc - queenless?

[Bronzeham]

Hello
I got my first hive/colony seven days ago, a five frame nuc which I dropped a swarm into (it was quite a small swarm). I have been feeding them syrup, and there have been quite a few flying bees, and drones toing and froing (I guess to DCAs), and the last two days workers with pollen, so I decided to have a quick look through the hive for the first time today. All five frames have some drawn comb, four of them lots of drawn comb, and pollen and syrup are being deposited; of course no capped cells, but no sign of any eggs, and thankfully no queen cells, but I did not find the queen. I only had a quick, but thorough look, and I'm usually quite good at finding the queen when I go for training in the apiary, so I was wondering if there is any advice anyone can give me.
Could my colony be queenless?, or with a virgin queen? How long should I expect to wait until I should see eggs? and what should I do when/if this time has elapsed? Get another swarm and drop it in?
Thank you

 

[thedozzer]

Hi
We are quite new to Bee Keeping, but had a queenless swarm earlier this year, they ended up drone laying, but it could be you have a virgin queen so it could be weeks until you know, and some queens drone lay for a while until they start laying worker eggs, one of our colonies took 4 weeks to show capped worker brood.
We are learning that patience is one of the most important tools in bee keeping!

 

[Swarm]

If it fits in a five frame nuc, it is probably a cast and headed by a a virgin. Patience is now the key, have another look in a couple of weeks time.
Good luck.

 

[enrico]

If it fits in a five frame nuc, it is probably a cast and headed by a a virgin. Patience is now the key, have another look in a couple of weeks time.
Good luck.

 

[eltalia]

What Swarm said... an' quit with the lollywater (syrup)
- by your own observation it is n0t and never was needed.
Unwittingly you set the new colony to fail following such
nonsense.

Bill

 

[Curly green fingers]

Hi I wanted to add , you will find that your bee's will bring / forage and store pollen even if you have a virgin or no queen at all, time is key here as the foraging bee's and nurse bee's are getting older.
I've had two cast swarms this year and 1 virgin failed to mate and the other started laying after 8/10 days ..
As swarm said give them two weeks and access the situation then we are always here to help.
Good luck..

 

[Curly green fingers]

What Swarm said... an' quit with the lollywater (syrup)
- by your own observation it is n0t and never was needed.
Unwittingly you set the new colony to fail following such
nonsense.

Bill

Sorry bill I beg to differ on this one , syrup can be a saving grasse in our climate , this summer of ours is turning out to be so variable from one week to the next... Unlike last year when it was stable for weeks on end.

 

[enrico]

Sorry bill I beg to differ on this one , syrup can be a saving grasse in our climate , this summer of ours is turning out to be so variable from one week to the next... Unlike last year when it was stable for weeks on end.

I have tried to explain that conditions are different here. The bees may be equal but the situation differs. Clearly starving bees are a rarity down under.
E

 

[Bakerbee]

Ive got light hives here also and live in a part of england that has better than average weather. Popping some 1:1 syrup on to help them draw out comb surely wont hurt. They wont take it if they dont need it.

 

[eltalia]

Sorry bill I beg to differ on this one , syrup can be a saving grasse in our climate , this summer of ours is turning out to be so variable from one week to the next... Unlike last year when it was stable for weeks on end.

Read the chap's post... no starving bees there.

A few here seem to be very blind to the fact climatic conditions
are public domain - whereas beekeeping is very much made
apparent to be the property of even less here.
A l0t of work to do (Beginners), sorry to say.

Bill

 

[Curly green fingers]

I have tried to explain that conditions are different here. The bees may be equal but the situation differs. Clearly starving bees are a rarity down under.
E

I dowt it they have dearths ??? And when you take honey crops from your colony's and the weather turns what then?

Ive got light hives here also and live in a part of england that has better than average weather. Popping some 1:1 syrup on to help them draw out comb surely wont hurt. They wont take it if they dont need it.

I would be making that syrup a bit thicker but using less but often I've nucs that were transferred in May that are in single brood but because of the summer /spring weather are light ..

 

[eltalia]

They wont take it if they dont need it.

Simply n0t true... as the OP has clearly noted.

Bill

 

[Bronzeham]

Thank you everyone for your help and advice.
I will use due patience and check the hive in a couple of weeks and see how things go

 

[Curly green fingers]

Read the chap's post... no starving bees there.

A few here seem to be very blind to the fact climatic conditions
are public domain - whereas beekeeping is very much made
apparent to be the property of even less here.
A l0t of work to do (Beginners), sorry to say.

Bill

I've re-read the ops post syrup is being stored , how much ? All frames drawn , ok let's think about it .
I've a 5 frame nuc with minimal stores yes it's a cast so theres not lots of bee's and no brood to feed but I would still feed syrup or at least let them have access to it .
You know your self bill they will only use what they want .
In the worst case sinareo you have to remove syrup stores when if the virgin queen mates
And starts to lay eggs in two weeks or so by which time they've been stuck inside for some time because of the weather.
I've not had to remove any syrup stores with my swarms because I've not over fed and have been giving them a 1lb of syrup almost every three days a little and often .
There are some that don't bother feeding swarms more so when there is a flow on but that all depends on the swarm size, mated queens can lay up in 8 days and benifit from the extra help ...
Rant over and I'll speak to you anon..

 

[eltalia]

I've re-read the ops post syrup is being stored , how much ?

Tis irrelevant how much.
The fact bees store syrup along with the fact the false impetus
to put such _somewhere_ says they do not *need* such
interference... MAN has invented this need, n0t bees.

Whatever... begin yet another topic on managing swarms in which
I'd do my best to offer enlightenment. The OP has now signed
off on their topic.
I follow that wise decision.

Bill

 

[Poly Hive]

I too would feed syrup but of course, there is feeding and feeding... the details are so devilish eh?

I normally feed using frame feeders for various reasons. So I would give about a pint. As the feeder holds 3 and a half pints that's obviously slightly under a third full. After that has been consumed usually under a week if not less, then I would reassess. Nothing clever about it, just basic beekeeping in the UK.

Other continents may do things differently but we need to deal with our highly unpredictable climate.

PH

 

[SDM]

to put such _somewhere_ says they do not *need* such
interference... MAN has invented this need, n0t bees.
Bill

Yeah , but left to their own devices only 1 in 4 swarms makes it through the winter.
Given what they plainly need, they do a lot better.

 

[enrico]

Read the chap's post... no starving bees there.

A few here seem to be very blind to the fact climatic conditions
are public domain - whereas beekeeping is very much made
apparent to be the property of even less here.
A l0t of work to do (Beginners), sorry to say.

Bill

No, at this stage it won't
You are trying to get them to build comb to store the stores that bill talks about. Not a problem.
Sometimes I just don't believe he understands. I see his reasoning but it doesn't hold true in all cases.
E

 

[SDM]

Sometimes I just don't believe he understands. I see his reasoning but it doesn't hold true in all cases.
E

Clearly we are not suitable to receive his blessed "enlightenment"

 

[eltalia]

I see his reasoning but it doesn't hold true in all cases.
E

That there is a start - yet you're working against the light when
bringing 'special' cases into your landscape. Like the other guy
quoting swarm fail (invented) numbers, using rarity (scarcity) as
reason for all is bordering on the disingenuous.
The most accurate comment thusfar is found in "the details are so
devilish" in that some are on a mission - not seeking to help new
players at all.


Bill