Did I buy a bad nuc?

Started by harvey, May 17, 2010, 02:17:06 PM

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harvey

May 17, 2010, 02:17:06 PM
I bought a nuc today.  I is suposed to have a Carnolian queen.  When I got home and transfered to the frames I found three frames of honey.  The other two frames were quite spotty with brood and a lot of drone brood. Didn't see any eggs. There were a lot of drones in the nuc too?  I didn't see the queen but that I guess doesn't suprise me.  The nuc was right full of bees.  Could maybe they have been honey bound and that is whey there was not that much brood?   This was bought from a reputable bee distributor.  I put them into a deep and reduced down the entrance for now.  Will check them again in a week or so.

iddee

#1
May 17, 2010, 02:29:30 PM
 Why wasn't the nuc inspected at the time of purchase, so questions could be addressed at that time?
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Scadsobees

#2
May 17, 2010, 02:44:11 PM
I'm no expert, but it is possible that the queen was introduced recently so she's not up to full capacity yet while much of the brood has hatched yet.

Lots of bees is the most important part, though, with a good queen they can take right off.

Get out and talk to some local exterminators about swarms right now, those are almost as good as nucs. ;)

Rick
Rick

Jim134

#3
May 17, 2010, 05:32:52 PM
Quote from: iddee on May 17, 2010, 02:29:30 PM
Why wasn't the nuc inspected at the time of purchase, so questions could be addressed at that time?



                      DIDO



       BEE HAPPY Jim 134  :)
"Tell me and I'll forget,show me and I may  remember,involve me and I'll understand"
        Chinese Proverb

"The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the freight both ways."
John F. Kennedy
Franklin County Beekeepers Association MA. http://www.franklinmabeekeepers.org/

harvey

#4
May 17, 2010, 05:42:52 PM
I called the guy back and ask him about all the drone brood and the absence of a good worker pattern.  He told me to bring it back that it sounded like the queen was failing  I asked him If I could wait three days and see if I saw eggs or larva as maybe with the number of bees they may have just hatched and he said that was fine.  The reason for not inspecting when I bought it was that he said they were cramed full and that we would loose a lot of bees as it was the middle of the day if we pulled every frame.  I thought that was a good idea? Da, next time.  I will check again in three days and then see what I see.  If I see a bunch of eggs or larva I will call it good and experieance.  If I don't I will either take it back or ask about just getting a good queen.  But then I would have to make sure I found the other queen right?

John Schwartz

#5
May 17, 2010, 05:43:43 PM
Good for you, Harvey. Sounds like they are being reasonable with you which is great.
―John Schwartz, theBee.Farm
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