Installing Bee Nucs

The nuc and a hive tool. 

We started our new bee hives by purchasing nucs – short for nucleus, a nuc is essentially a mini hive. You get four frames, some with brood, some with honey, some bees and a mated queen. We picked up our nucs from Better Bee Supply in early June. When we arrived at the store, they had already eaten a hole through the top of the cardboard box they were temporarily living in. They were definitely ready to get out. We taped up the hole and carried the two nucs out into the van.

We first set up our hive boxes – they are both under a bit of shade and set up on cinder blocks that were on hand. We added a strap to help keep the lid on and avoid issues with crafty raccoons.

Opening up the first nuc. 

Once we got the hive boxes set up, I lit the smoker so that we had it on hand and we opened up the first nuc. They were so not happy about being in that box. Lots of flying around. I lifted out each new frame and looked for eggs, larvae, capped brood, honey and bees. I was also trying to spot the queen. I transferred the frames into the hive boxes but there were still tons of bees that were not interested in making their way into the hive – lots were flying around and lots were sticking it out in the box. I knew that the queen had made it into the hive so it was really just a matter of time before the rest of the workers and drones followed suit. Since young bees & nurse bees can't yet fly, I leaned both the box and lid up against the base of the hive so that those bees could walk into their new home.

We opened up the next nuc and did the same thing – the second box had more dead bees in the bottom (which I looked up and found is fairly normal) and the bees were way more agitated. I quickly looked over the frames and transferred them into the centre of the hive box. We then headed in for a lunch break in hopes that the bees would make their way in on their own.

Checking on the frames. 

When we came back out they had settled in quite nicely and had already started to draw out comb onto the wax foundation. We inspected the frames again and made sure that we spotted a queen in each hive.

Mom doing her first hive inspection.

If we did it again, I would have waited between opening up each nuc to let the first group of bees settle in. Also, I’ve since read that a spray bottle of sugar water can help distract them and send them down into the frames, rather then having them fly around aggressively.

We set them up with some sugar water in their feeders to help supplement their food sources and make the transition a little smoother. They are set up near a fresh creek and a field of clover and other forage that two donkeys live in. They should have plenty of forage in their new home. There is lots of conventional farm land nearby, so we are keeping a watch on any pesticide issues, but so far they seem to be alright. 

Bees already working on drawing out come on the new frame.