The bees are here

[Rickmb]

Hello all, new member here , after reading and researching about bees for some time I now have collected a nuc colony. I have placed the poly nuc on the stand where I will site the hive and plan to give them a day or two to settle down before transferring them into a hive. After a hour or so of circling and zooming around foraging appears to have begun as I can see bees returning loaded with pollen , initially when I opened the hive I did observe what appeared to be a few skirmishes going on with bees carrying dead body's away that looked to be a different type of bee to my bees, my bees have yellow stripes and the dead bees looked almost identical except they were much darker almost completely black on the abdomen. Any ideas what was going on there ? I think I saw about 5 or 6 dead of these other types of bees , now all seems to have settled down I have not seen any more fighting or bodys being carried. What is the maximum time period that I can leave the bees in the nuc before transferring to the hive ? And is there anything I should be watching out for? Sorry but this is my first time

Rick.

 

[LJH]

Could they possibly be the same type of bee, but have lost their colour as they are dead? That seems more plausable?

 

[dexter's shed]

And is there anything I should be watching out for? Sorry but this is my first time

Rick.

how many frames in the nuc?
what's on them, brood,eggs,etc or stores

 

[Rickmb]

Hello LJH yes I did wonder if the bees were simply removing dead ones from the hive after I opened it as I saw bees appear to be struggling to get airborne to carry dead ones then zooming off with them. Never actually saw two living bees fighting but I didn't know the bees turn black when they die?

 

[Rickmb]

Hi dexters shed I havnt actually opened the nuc up yet to have a look. Just Brought it home and sited it where the hive will be so I'm not sure what is inside I could ask the man I got the bees from

 

[enrico]

This time of the year I would put them straight into a full size hive, in the centre, with new frames each side. They will need to start drawing these out to keep the queen laying. I may consider feeding three or four pints of 1 part sugar to 1 part water to get them going.
E

 

[Erichalfbee]

It's warm and there's lots of forage about so no need to faff about worrying about dead space to heat.
(any other time of year it's good idea to dummy the space down and introduce a frame of foundation each side, waiting for them to draw it out before adding more.
I would keep the entrance block in too.
Have a good look when you install them and good luck.

 

[Rickmb]

Hi thanks for the quick replies! Do you suggest also fitting a super or purely the brood box, and roof? I have seen bees returning heavy with pollen

 

[Erichalfbee]

Super ONLY when you have 6/7 frames solid with brood.
Your bees will have four frames of foundation to draw in the brood box, yet.
A while to go yet.....Just concentrate on building up a good strong colony for winter; honey next year.

 

[Rickmb]

Thanks EricA that's brilliant , I'll get them transfered ASAP! I'm really glad of all the help. I'm terrified something is going to go wrong at this point.

 

[Rickmb]

Thanks everybody ! Hopefully all will go well with the transfer

 

[B+.]

Hi thanks for the quick replies! Do you suggest also fitting a super or purely the brood box, and roof? I have seen bees returning heavy with pollen

Pollen gives them protein. It is a good sign because workers produce food for the young brood from their hypopharyngeal gland when they are well fed.
What sort of hive do you have? If it is a National, they will need at least one brood box to over winter (preferably 2) so they don't need a queen excluder or honey box this year (unless you plan to use the super instead of the sencond brood box).

 

[Rickmb]

Hi B+ I have a national hive with one brood box and 2 supers. But I have no problem making / buying an extra brood box if you think it's best? . I assume I would add that after the first one is full?

 

[BeeJayBee]

You're aiming to get one brood box full of bees and stores before the end of the autumn. If you're lucky you might also get some stores in a super, which you can put beneath the brood box for winter.

 

[Rickmb]

Hi thanks for all the help so far, I have come home today to observe the bees a little and they seem to be very busy with a steady stream of returning bees heavy with pollen, I'm going to move the bees into the main hive in the next day or so. I was wondering though what you all think, I have read that bees can be grouchy after periods of bad weather, well we are in a period of about three days on and off rain at the minute so should I wait till the weather improves to move the bees or just wait until a break in the rain ( keeping in mind the seller who provided the bees told me that the nuc is getting quite full) what would you all think is best?, this will be my first time moving bee frames around and I don't want to make it any harder than it needs to be. Thanks all !
Rick

 

[Luka22]

Hi Rickmb, welcome to the world of beekeeping.

I am not sure how full your nuc is, but I would move the bees as soon as possible so that they can settle proper in their final home. I would say that the main concern right now will be to get your bees draw Fondation to fill your Brood Box before the summer is over. If that all goes well, you might consider adding a super, but don't worry about that right now. The earlier you move them the earlier they can start drawing the Frames. Is the Queen marked?

If I would be you, I would move the Nuc over and add possibly 2-3 Frames of Fondation and a Dummy Board. When they have completed the drawing add the next Frames. When you transfer the Frames, I would check every Frame for Brood and possibly check if you can see the Queen. Than just carefully move the Frame into your Brood Box and watch out when you move and push the frames together that you don't kill too many bees. Sometimes they get between sides, I personally move them together slowly, because it could be the Queen in between, who knows.....

But don't worry too much, all will be fine. I assume you have a Beesuit and Gloves? So, if bees are a bit upset because of the weather at least you should not feel it...

We have had bees only for a few years now and there are far more experience beekeepers around here and as usual there will be people with different views, so read all the advices and choose for yourself. Anyway, enjoy your first Bees and Good Luck !!!

 

[pargyle]

Hi dexters shed I havnt actually opened the nuc up yet to have a look. Just Brought it home and sited it where the hive will be so I'm not sure what is inside I could ask the man I got the bees from

It could be a 'made up' nuc ..the seller may just have put a few frames of brood from different hives into the same nuc with some bees .. in which case you could have a mixture of mongrels in there.

My hives often have different coloured bees in them - depends on what drones the queen has mated with as to what colour of bee emerges ... they all seem to get along so nothing to worry about. Did you have to travel far with the bees - it's all stress and at this time of the year the foragers really wear themselves out quite quickly so you will always see a few dead ones around and being cleared by the undertaker bees.

 

[Rickmb]

progress

Hi everybody! thanks so far your advice is both helpfull and encouraging
a little update.
so i have moved the nuc into the main hive. one brood body so far with 11 frames , crown board and roof

when i opened the nuc i was immediately surprised by just how many bees were inside. all 6 frames were full on both sides and i mean full. solid with bees. also some construction going on on the bottom of the lid.

I moved these frames into the hive with empty frames of foundation on either side , being carefull to keep the frames in the same order as they were in the nuc.unfortuntely luka i didnt check the frames too carefully because my nerve was giving out as the bees were getting more and more excited so i just installed the frames as quickly as i could keeping from jerking shaking or crushing any bees. this was yesterday.

today i opened the hive to check what was going on and there is a lot of activity. with some of the new frames also becoming solid with bees . i checked one frame for queen cells couldnt find anything but again lost my nerve a bit as more bees took to the air so i replaced the frame and closed up the hive. unfortunately i didnt notice the queen again . i think im going to leave them alone for a few days now to get settled i just hope there isnt anything urgent going on.. i will add i was far more relaxed this time than when i moved the nuc to the hive. that was very stressfull but i was aware that once started the job had to be completed . there was quite a few angry bees around during that operation!

im wondering if i should add a top feeder . pollen flow does seem to be good though. would i need the queen excluder under the crown board so that she cant get into the feeder or is this not an issue?

pargyle i i had travelled around 50 miles to collect the bees. they had been closed into the nuc the night before . i collected them around 9.30 and arrived home at 11 am and released them . so they were travelling some time yes but didnt seem too angry when i released them infact i watched them for a while and didnt feel the need to be protected they just seemed more interested in checking out their new home.
all the bees appear to be the same breed . quite small and short with light yellow stripes not dark like some other honey bees i have seen
thank you all so much your help


Rick

 

[andyphibb]

Welcome, You don't need to look in the hive so often as you are, Once a week is plenty,it wouldn't harm to give a pint or two of feed but not to much as they will store in the cells that are needed for brood, only fit the Q excluder when you put the super on (in a couple of weeks may be)What feeder do you have? Good luck! but remember if you feel the need to look in your hive every day get more hives lol I find you tube is a good place to find out things as well as here.

 

[BeeJayBee]

i think im going to leave them alone for a few days now to get settled

Welcome, You don't need to look in the hive so often as you are, Once a week is plenty,

Look online for a pdf copy of "At the Hive Entrance" by Storch. Download it and read it, then use that information for when you want to 'do something' with your bees.

It takes them several days to recover from an inspection, once a week is essential when they might be making swarm preparations, the rest of the time you need to inspect to be sure the colony has a laying queen (check for eggs), enough space for her to lay, and enough stores to last to the next inspection (which could be several months in the late autumn).

With a new colony you shouldn't need to worry about disease or brood disorders, so read up on those over the autumn and winter months. Download booklets from Beebase if you haven't already done so.

all the bees appear to be the same breed . quite small and short with light yellow stripes not dark like some other honey bees i have seen

If you bought your bees from a dealer you should know which you have - Carniolan, for example, are often sold to new beekeepers.