wasps in Nuc

[paulday500]

Hi.
I have introduced a mated queen into a three frame nuc. So the numbers of bees are on the low side. The intention is to requeen an aggressive colony. However I have just noticed wasps entering the nuc. Just for the moment I have closed up the entrance to ventilation only, I will re open later.

Has anyone any suggestions. Should I add any more bees from the original doner hive?
Or are their any other possible means to help the nuc colony.

Thanks

 

[Ian123]

Particularly when making up a nuc and more so when it contains plenty of young bees it takes them a few days/week to get themselves sorted. I’ve often noticed even when good numbers in the box activity/flyers at the door are limited. At the very least close the entrance to a single bee space or add a tube/pipe to give the doorway some depth, wasps dont like meeting bees coming the other way.

 

[paulday500]

Thanks for the reply.
I have just set the entrance to a single bee space. Will look at how to make a tube arrangement. It's a Paynes polynuc. So to some extent it is a bit of a tube now.

 

[Ian123]

Ensure frames containing brood are by the entrance as well if the entrance is offset and brood over the other side then when temps drop and they cluster on the brood area frames of stores can become exposed, it happens in particular in the autumn as well. If all else fails you may have to consider moving away for a week worst case.

 

[paulday500]

Hi Ian.
The frames are to one side. I am going to look in hive this evening so will take up your suggestion and will move brood to be over entrance. Hopefully that will help.

 

[Finman]

.

Too small gang of bees. They cannot occupy frames.

You coud put a frame of emerging bees, that the gang will become full dense.

 

[ericbeaumont]

Too small gang of bees. They cannot occupy frames.
You coud put a frame of emerging bees, that the gang will become full dense.

Yes, good idea.

 

[paulday500]

Thanks everyone.
Will be adding in a frame of brood with some extra nurse bees as soon as I can.

 

[citrus]

gosh I wish I'd read this earlier .... just lost a nuc to wasps in a paynes poly hive

i put on a tunnel entrance a few days back when I saw they were under attack

...just a long 20cm bit of poly pipe that fitted nicely
...... which I thought might help but when i went back to check last night .... damn it the wasps were using the tunnel without issue ... perhaps it needed a u bend in it !

but think it was me being tooo late to notice and not building up the colony in time and when i checked today not a single bee was left in the nuc .... they had eaten/taken the lot :-(

Have now found the nearby wasp nest and dispatched it ..

Never had a problem here in 4 years .....

 

[citrus]

Particularly when making up a nuc and more so when it contains plenty of young bees it takes them a few days/week to get themselves sorted. I’ve often noticed even when good numbers in the box activity/flyers at the door are limited. At the very least close the entrance to a single bee space or add a tube/pipe to give the doorway some depth, wasps dont like meeting bees coming the other way.

Ian qq for you ....I tried the pipe in the paynes poly but still saw the odd wasp go inside on my one failed nuc ... but that could have been at a time when it was too late..

I wonder if you could put an elbow on the pipe - I tried one using some push fit fittings on another nuc ... but the bees never worked it out (maybe i didnt leave it long enough) ... in the end in this one I added some emerging bees and leaving them to it

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MHGtXjoRxSsfbhU49

 

[bobthecob]

If they are weak, and you are adding a frame, try to make it as much capped brood as possible, as (unlike uncapped brood) it doesn't require heating or feeding, which your nuc may not be strong enough to manage.