3 week old nuc gone crazy

Mr. Bee · April 17, 2016, 08:12:30 PM

Bought a new nuc a few weeks ago. This nuc had a queen cage and not a working queen. When transferring nuc frames to the new hive body I noticed quite a few drone cells on a couple of different frames. I figured when the queen was accepted and released everything would straighten itself out. I added a top feeder and filled it with sugar water and put the top cover on and left them.
How Wrong I was!! After a week to 10 days I went in to inspect the new hive and there was no queen, no evidence of eggs, and a bunch of drone cells. The bees were making honey and bringing in pollen but no evidence of laying except drone cells.
I assume when I bought the nuc it had laying workers in it and when my queen was released it was killed.

I went and picked up a marked queen yesterday and came home and proceeded to try to rectify the situation. I began by putting my entire hive in a wheelbarrow and rolling it across the yard approximately 100 yards away and I took my deep box with bees in it and set it on the ground. I brushed all bees off my bottom board and walked it back to where the hive was set up initially and set it in place. I then added a new frameless deep box on the bottom board and then walked back to the deep box with all the bees in it and began taking the frames out of it one at a time and brushing the bees onto the ground and taking the empty frames back to the bottom board and new deep box and sliding them into the new box. After getting rid of all bees in the original hive I introduced the new queen.

This all happened yesterday and today. Now nobody can walk within 100yards of this hive without getting stung. My hives are close to my garden and I am concerned that I will not be able to work my garden. I've been stung 6 different times today--My neighbor has been stung and both of my sons. I can understand how these bees would be upset but is this normal? Will they settle down?

BeeMaster2 · April 17, 2016, 11:08:45 PM

I think the key word in this whole thread is "brush".
I remember the first time I used a brush to remove bees to extract honey it three weeks before anyone but me could go in the back yard and I was attacked every time.
I rarely use a brush. I just shake the frames to remove the bees.
I used a brush a few weeks ago to remove a swarm from a tree trunk. Every time I rolled a bee against the tree, I would get stung. This was a very calm swarm. I did not use any protection. When a bee gets injured from the brush, his buddy is trying to defend him and the hive.
Jim

OldMech · April 18, 2016, 11:30:34 AM

They will calm down, especially if you can get them to accept that queen.
And, for the record, it is NOT a NUC if it does not have a laying queen that you can inspect her and her laying pattern. In the future, if the queen is in a cage, walk away.
The advantage of a NUC is that you can see how well the queen is performing. it will be HER eggs and larvae that you can inspect, and YOU take no risk releasing that queen, because it is HER hive.
The seller that slaps some frames into a box with some bees, and puts a queen in a cage in there is asking YOU to do the work and take the risks.
I might still do that, but not for the higher NUC price.

Acebird · April 19, 2016, 10:15:04 AM

How would the nurse bees get back to the hive that have never oriented? I can see where a hive would be defensive if most of the nurse bees are gone.

Jim134 · April 19, 2016, 10:55:37 AM

Do you believe there any nurse bees without any brood for probably maybe 10 days to 2 weeks?

IMHO
You bought it split and not a nuc.

BEE HAPPY Jim 134

BeeMaster2 · April 19, 2016, 12:24:44 PM

What Jim said.
Jim

Jim134 · April 19, 2016, 08:11:47 PM

On new packages or nucs if I do not have a laying Queen in 2 week the hive is in trouble. Never had much success in requeening a package or a nuke after about 14 days..

BEE HAPPY Jim 134

little john · April 20, 2016, 03:55:02 AM

Quote from: OldMech on April 18, 2016, 11:30:34 AM
And, for the record, it is NOT a NUC if it does not have a laying queen that you can inspect her and her laying pattern. In the future, if the queen is in a cage, walk away.
The advantage of a NUC is that you can see how well the queen is performing. it will be HER eggs and larvae that you can inspect, and YOU take no risk releasing that queen, because it is HER hive.

Agreed - that's not a NUC. NUCs cost extra money ... for a reason.

QuoteMake sure your new queen is LAYING in the nuc.. some nucs are overwintered, some are made up with queens from the south or California in the early spring. If your nuc has a queen in a queen cage, it is NOT A NUC yet, walk away!
http://www.outyard.net/nucleus-hives.html

This info won't help you right now - but might help others faced with the same situation ...

LJ

Mr. Bee · April 24, 2016, 02:26:38 PM

Ok--Its been a week since I introduced the new queen and I just went to inspect them. The hive did not except the queen and I am still queenless.
What do I do?
Please help

yes2matt · April 25, 2016, 03:45:02 PM

Quote from: Mr. Bee on April 24, 2016, 02:26:38 PM
Ok--Its been a week since I introduced the new queen and I just went to inspect them. The hive did not except the queen and I am still queenless.
What do I do?
Please help

Do you have another hive, you could put a frame of mixed brood n eggs into the "nuc?" Let em make their own queen.

But I'm a newbee, and that's my newbee idea.

I'd call the person who got my money, and tell how you asked about the issue on a message board, and they say I didn't get what I paid for ...

GSF · April 26, 2016, 08:29:23 AM

I'd say friends told me instead of a message board. Most folks who've sold you something will respond negative towards comments off of a forum board.