Rehived a nuc and nearly lost the queen!

sean-a · Mar 30, 2019

Nice sunny day, so I moved a nuc which was on 5 frames into a single BB.
Checked and saw brood, eggs but no queen.
Wasn't overly warm, so I didn't want to spend too much time so a quick scan of each frame as I transferred..

There were a few bees in the bottom of the nuc, so I shook these on top of the frames and put the nuc down and reassembled the hive.

Quick look in the nuc and there were three bees left, one of which was the queen.
Opened up and tried to shake her in, but she was huddled under a ledge.
Luckily she came out, and I trapped her in a queen cage.

Released her through the hole in the crown board, so I am hoping all is well and I have not damaged her.

Phew, glad I had a second look in the Nuc before sticking it back in my car!

enrico · Mar 31, 2019

Hope the weather stays warm for them! Close shave. Most of us have been there. Crown board is the one I always check!
E

birdsandbees · Apr 1, 2019

I was sorting out one of my hives at the weekend, doing a Bailey comb change, I put the frame with the Queen on, which luckily was a nice frame put into the box last year and it was full of eggs and brood, into the new box which was placed on the upturned Roof, then when reassembling spotted that she was no longer on the frame but on the inside of the roof.

no drama but it goes to show that you have to be vigilant :blush5:

sean-a · Apr 1, 2019

Sods Law - I think that I have picked the wrong time to rehive the Nuc.
The weather is about to get cold and they are in a big Hive with 5 empty frames with starter strips.
Lots of hawthorn and a field of rape half a mile away is bursting into flower.
Should I be feeding them too, to help them draw the frames?

For want of a better word · Apr 1, 2019

sean-a said:
Sods Law - I think that I have picked the wrong time to rehive the Nuc.
The weather is about to get cold and they are in a big Hive with 5 empty frames with starter strips.
Lots of hawthorn and a field of rape half a mile away is bursting into flower.
Should I be feeding them too, to help them draw the frames?

Simply YES :winner1st:

Hived 4 nucs today absolutely bursting out over 6 frames...... one had a nice new queen dutifully laying away... I brutally dradged her out of the comb splatterd her with a blue uniposca* and savagely cut one third of her right wing off.... with my 7 inch Bowie knife... as one does.... all this after totally terrifying them with copious clouds of acrid smoke......

.... then I found the old queen also laying for old England... she had been savagely treated the previous season.....
and all of this so we nasty beekeepers can steal their honey! :calmdown:

( Well this is how I explained it to the vegan lady who always asks me how the poor bees are doing..... my wife said I made her cry!)
* was all I had on me as the thoracic numbered discs were back in the bee room 2 miles away!