New Bees Looking Good

[Steve M.]

Well, it has been a decent day finally, and the bees were out and going crazy today!  I was a bit nervous...I had transferred them to their new home on a cold and drizzly day because I new we were in for a few days of rain and cold.

I am glad to see that they are bringing in pollen.  I haven't checked as of yet to see if they are feeding from the top feeder I put on when I transferred the nuc...I will wait a couiple of more days and do an inspection.

Question:  When I transferred the nuc, I put the inner cover directly over the hive body, then put on the top feeder, then the outer cover....is this the correct sequence?  I looked all over for some info that came with the hive parts, but didn't find one.  I originally tried putting the top feeder right on top of the hive body, but it wouldn't sit flush.  I tried scraping off all the burr comb, but it still didn't sit flush.  I was getting nervous about all sorts of things by this time (being my first time ever handling bees) and settled with putting the inner cover first, then the feeder, then the outer, and everything fit flush.

I managed to get everything squared away, and avoided getting stung, but have decided that using last years dried pea vines as a smoker fuel really stinks....literally.  I still can't get the smell out of the inside of the jeep.

Also, my wife told me her suspicions were well founded.  She predicted that I would sit for long periods of time staring at the hive just to see what they were up to! 

--Steve M.

[buzzbee]

Welcome to beekeeping Steve!
If you have one of the feeders that sit in a medium super ,I have done it both ways with about the same results.