Poor Start

[Jules58]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday I collected my first Nuc and installed the five frames alongside foundation frames into my hive (just one standard brood box). All seemed to go well no drama. Today all seemed well, the bees were in and out all day until 14.30 when they swarmed, any ideas why?

Regards Jules

 

[Brigsy]

Sorry to hear that. That must be frustrating. How long did you leave them in situ in the Nuc before transferring? I'm new to this so not going to comment.

 

[snelgrove]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday I collected my first Nuc and installed the five frames alongside foundation frames into my hive (just one standard brood box). All seemed to go well no drama. Today all seemed well, the bees were in and out all day until 14.30 when they swarmed, any ideas why?

Regards Jules

Should not have swarmed, must of got congested in the nuc box. Last year queen was it?
Did you see them swarm, they weren't just having a busy play flight, which h begginers often mistake for swarming. There will be queencells

 

[Fatbee]

You should not have received a nuc with queen cells in - I would go back to the supplier. Why it always pays to inspect your nuc before you accept it. Have you been in to the nuc since the swarm to see if there are queen cells?

 

[oliver90owner]

Absconded woud be more likely - nasty smelly box, perhaps.
Doubtful they have swarmed. Any bees left in the box? Any queen cells. If they have swarmed - get back to the supplier. An unsatisfactory situation as you will only have half what you paid for and a new queen (eventually) which may be inferior to the one which swarmed.

Your initial installation was poor, by the way. Nuc frames to hive with a couple of foundation frames and a divider or dummy frame, to constrain the bees, would be far better than several frames of foundation, while cold conditions can prevail.

RAB

 

[Jules58]

Definitely not overcrowded, bees only covering 4/5 sides. Definitely no queen cells. The hive was new/ unused. They abandoned the brood and left the box empty, just a few very young bees remaining.

I was lucky and managed to catch the queen on top of the box before she flew. I put my spare hive on the original stand with a queen excluder under the box, put the queen in and most of the bees returned to it. So now the set up is the same, I transferred the nuc frames back in with new foundation either side (I don't have any dummy boards). The bees were foraging again last night, and when I checked later they were clustered on the nuc brood frames.

Are they likely to go again if I remove the queen excluder?

 

[snelgrove]

Definitely not overcrowded, bees only covering 4/5 sides. Definitely no queen cells. The hive was new/ unused. They abandoned the brood and left the box empty, just a few very young bees remaining.

I was lucky and managed to catch the queen on top of the box before she flew. I put my spare hive on the original stand with a queen excluder under the box, put the queen in and most of the bees returned to it. So now the set up is the same, I transferred the nuc frames back in with new foundation either side (I don't have any dummy boards). The bees were foraging again last night, and when I checked later they were clustered on the nuc brood frames.

Are they likely to go again if I remove the queen excluder?

Definately a strange situation , to abscond and leave brood is very rare. I would leave excluder on and check that the queen is laying well before re moving it. something abut your hive they don't like. have you treated it with anything such as a preservative.

 

[Jules58]

Definately a strange situation , to abscond and leave brood is very rare. I would leave excluder on and check that the queen is laying well before re moving it. something abut your hive they don't like. have you treated it with anything such as a preservative.

The original hive was new, cedar, but had been painted, maybe they didn't like the paint?
The hive they are in now is second hand, I hadn't got around to scorching or otherwise cleaning it but the seller was confident he'd had no disease in it. I will leave them a week then have a look.

 

[snelgrove]

The original hive was new, cedar, but had been painted, maybe they didn't like the paint?
The hive they are in now is second hand, I hadn't got around to scorching or otherwise cleaning it but the seller was confident he'd had no disease in it. I will leave them a week then have a look.

did you paint the inside of hive or floor and crownboard

 

[Jules58]

did you paint the inside of hive or floor and crownboard

There is no paint internally, I didn't paint it myself so i don't know what type of paint was used. I don't think any other preservative has been used.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Hello everyone,
Yesterday I collected my first Nuc and installed the five frames alongside foundation frames into my hive (just one standard brood box). All seemed to go well no drama. Today all seemed well, the bees were in and out all day until 14.30 when they swarmed, any ideas why?

Regards Jules

"Swarmed". What EXACTLY have you seen?

 

[Eyeman]

Definitely not overcrowded, bees only covering 4/5 sides. Definitely no queen cells. The hive was new/ unused. They abandoned the brood and left the box empty, just a few very young bees remaining.

Absconding like that suggests the bees didn't like that hive. I had that happen when a top feeder started dripping on the bees and they all left. Friend had a hive that he just couldn't get a colony to accept as home: tried 3 times with 3 different colonies before burning the box

 

[bjosephd]

"Swarmed". What EXACTLY have you seen?

Jules… TryingToLetThemBe asks a valid question.

What DID you see… and have you seen a marked queen in there? Is laying happening?
(assuming your nuc provider marked the queen before selling… which they should ideally do)

This link below is footage of one of my hives and it is NOT swarming.

Even a more 'experienced' local beekeeper saw the video and was convinced it was a swarm. I was not convinced… I was correct. Last year's marked queeny is still happily laying away in there and so far barely even a handful of (empty) queen cups.

https://vimeo.com/165435731

It's just a whole load of new foragers bursting out on the first hot day in a while and orienting (and probably going to the loo and generally getting some fresh air!).

A newly moved nuc box where EVERY forager will need to orientate on the new position will look incredibly busy and 'swarmy'.

I really hope this is the case for your bees!

Good luck and fingers crossed!

BJD

(p.s. ...and if you're wondering that was a full brood box, a brood box with undrawn foundation, and then a brood box of insulation above the crown board… so actually not a monster 3BB hive!…. YET!)

 

[Obee1]

Jules… TryingToLetThemBe asks a valid question.

What DID you see… and have you seen a marked queen in there? Is laying happening?
(assuming your nuc provider marked the queen before selling… which they should ideally do)

This link below is footage of one of my hives and it is NOT swarming.

Even a more 'experienced' local beekeeper saw the video and was convinced it was a swarm. I was not convinced… I was correct. Last year's marked queeny is still happily laying away in there and so far barely even a handful of (empty) queen cups.

https://vimeo.com/165435731

It's just a whole load of new foragers bursting out on the first hot day in a while and orienting (and probably going to the loo and generally getting some fresh air!).

A newly moved nuc box where EVERY forager will need to orientate on the new position will look incredibly busy and 'swarmy'.

I really hope this is the case for your bees!

Good luck and fingers crossed!

BJD

(p.s. ...and if you're wondering that was a full brood box, a brood box with undrawn foundation, and then a brood box of insulation above the crown board… so actually not a monster 3BB hive!…. YET!)

The OP states that he caught the queen on top of the box - before she flew. Assuming he means on the outside of the hive. That would not be orientation.

 

[bjosephd]

The OP states that he caught the queen on top of the box - before she flew. Assuming he means on the outside of the hive. That would not be orientation.

Ahh.. sorry, my bad, I'm a numpty!

I missed that bit.

Too busy thinking about my own scar.

How's your new colony behaving now Jules?

Hope all is chugging along nicely now?

BJD