Howdy from southeast Texas. A little background, I?m not a complete noob but it has been roughly 30 years since I worked bees with my dad as a teen.
Fast forward to yesterday. I (with dad?s help) installed 2 four frame nucs into their new homes. Everything seemed to go great and the bees are settled in and doing fine as far as I can tell. I was not expecting the queens to be in cages. Just wasn?t something that crossed my mind when preparing for the nucs arrival. My question is, when should I check up on them to make sure they get out? I wasn?t planning on going into the hives for at least a couple of weeks to let them get settled in.
Also, I wanted to thank each of you that contribute to this forum. Your collective knowledge has helped a lot as I have prepared for this venture.
Welcome to Beemaster.
Sorry to see that you lost one side of that great looking rack. :cheesy:
Go into a the nucs and look at the bees on the queen cages. If you can easily move the bees with a finger or a feather, I would open the cage and let into the hive. If they are biting the cage they are not ready.
By the way, you did not get a true Nuc. A Nuc should have 4 or 5 frames of bees with a queen that has proven herself by filling the Nuc with eggs and larvae. You basically got a package with some bees on frames and a queen.
Jim
Welcome. :happy:
Quote from: sawdstmakr on May 07, 2018, 02:41:29 PM
Welcome to Beemaster.
Sorry to see that you lost one side of that great looking rack. :cheesy:
Go into a the nucs and look at the bees on the queen cages. If you can easily move the bees with a finger or a feather, I would open the cage and let into the hive. If they are biting the cage they are not ready.
By the way, you did not get a true Nuc. A Nuc should have 4 or 5 frames of bees with a queen that has proven herself by filling the Nuc with eggs and larvae. You basically got a package with some bees on frames and a queen.
Jim
Yeppas... like that other fella over in "Downunder Beekeeping"... didn't get what was ordered, like ;-))
"Rack" pulled me up to post, Jim, as I diddun "get it"... it's only us old (bigger) guys that get
"manboobs". So I had to think on it... the "funny" didn't come easy, like.
When the lightbulb lit up the first thought was Wayne is a lucky guy the other fella with the 30.08
is a poor shot!! Hahahhahahhahhaaaaa
Ditto in Welcome, Wayne ;-)
Bill
I agree Jim, poor excuse for a nuc, the distinction between a package of bees and a nuc has been blurred.
A true nuc has a queen with her brood, grubs and eggs.
By the way, you did not get a true Nuc. A Nuc should have 4 or 5 frames of bees with a queen that has proven herself by filling the Nuc with eggs and larvae. You basically got a package with some bees on frames and a queen.
Jim (Master Jim)
Ditto, Master Jim explained very well, that is the difference between a nuc and a package. 100% AGREED
Man o man south Texas has some racks, along with huge price to hunt and bass lakes so loaded with big bass a fella has to hide behind a tree to bait his hook.
Blessings
Thanks everyone. When should I go back in to make sure the queens are free? I?ll make the best of what I have.
That shed came off of a 180? breeder buck at a south Texas ranch I was bow hunting javi?s on back in March.
About 3 days after installation you can take a quick look to make sure the queen was released, or nearly so, then button it back up until your inspection.
Thanks, I?ll update with my findings.
Quote from: gunswayne on May 08, 2018, 12:52:46 PM
Thanks, I?ll update with my findings.
Welcome gunswayne, I'm new here myself, and with similar experience. I use to help my uncle with his bees when I was young, also. There are some really nice and helpful people here. Wishing you the best with your bees 🐝!! Phillip Hall "Ben Framed"
Thank you Mr. Hall. I?m finding that the bee community is quite helpful. Refreshing in this days world.