Nucs, What am I doing Wrong?

Started by Beeboy01, March 26, 2012, 08:47:26 PM

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Beeboy01

March 26, 2012, 08:47:26 PM
I've been trying to get a nuc started and just can't seem to get any queens to hatch or lay. The first time through I swapped out two frames of brood and eggs, two frames part full of honey and one empty drawn frame in a five frame coates nuc. After one week I spotted two queen cells which appeared to hatch but two weeks after the hatch I never saw a queen or fresh eggs. So I tried it again with another two frames of young brood and eggs, more honey and one empty drawn frame. The same thing happened, queen cells that hatched but after two weeks no sign of a queen. This time around I found a almost capped swarmer cell on a frame with some drone brood and just put it in the nuc over the weekend along with some more honey and a second frame of brood hoping that this attempt will work.
   What am I missing here? were the last queen cells made out of brood that was too old or is the nuc too small. Is it still to early to start nucs or is it just bad luck so far? The donor hives are going strong but haven't started any swarm cells yet and the honey flow kicked in about a week ago. I just don't get it...?
   

AllenF

#1
March 26, 2012, 08:55:05 PM
First where are you located in Hopelessly Lost?  The frames that you are grabbing, are you sure there are eggs there?   Do you have drones flying?   Are you feeding?    Are you getting enough bees to make queens?    It takes a lot of resources to make a queen.   And you may want to give it more that 2 weeks.

Beeboy01

#2
March 26, 2012, 09:11:40 PM Last Edit: March 26, 2012, 09:31:01 PM by Beeboy01
I'm not stuck in hopelessly lost yet, just getting into the land of confused and wondering what's going on. I've got drones flying and am pretty sure that the frames had eggs, need to start wearing my reading glasses when checking for the small stuff. I'm not feeding right now because of robbing, I think that there is a feral hive in the area that is aggressively robbing when I feed the nuc. Don't know about having enough bees in the nuc to make a queen, I've been shaking house bees into the nuc when I introduce the frames of eggs and brood, maybe that is the problem.
      Changed my location from hopelessly lost to Port Orange FL, thanks for the poke :-D

Kathyp

#3
March 26, 2012, 09:32:48 PM
what kind of birds do you have around?
The people the people are the rightful masters of both congresses and courts not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.

Abraham  Lincoln
Speech in Kansas, December 1859

G3farms

#4
March 26, 2012, 09:46:52 PM
When the queen cells are first capped they are very sensitive for the first couple of days, rough handling could have killed them.

As Kathy said some times the birds will get them on their mating flights.

To reduce the robbing on the nucs use a top feeder. I drill a hole in one of the tops and install a quart jar.
those hot bees will have you steppin and a fetchin like your heads on fire and your keister is a catchin!!!

Bees will be bees and do as they please!

iddee

#5
March 26, 2012, 10:02:06 PM
Many, many queens start laying in the third week. You may have given up too soon.
"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*

Kathyp

#6
March 26, 2012, 10:24:07 PM
QuoteYou may have given up too soon.

yeah, but they kept making queen cells.

i have a heck of a time here because the swallows get my queens.  lost a good hive this year because i wasn't paying attention and the new queen didn't make it back.  caught a blue jay sitting on one hive today grabbing lunch as it flew in and out.
The people the people are the rightful masters of both congresses and courts not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow the men who pervert it.

Abraham  Lincoln
Speech in Kansas, December 1859

Beeboy01

#7
March 26, 2012, 10:27:02 PM
I'm not sure if birds got the girls, I have Mocking birds and Brown House Wrens in the back yard. Haven't seen any Blue Jays this year and we all know that Jays just love honey bees. I'll keep trying and give it more time along with starting to feed. Just got a lead on a cut out under a trailer, it sounds like a lot of work but could be a great place for a swarm trap.

hardwood

#8
March 27, 2012, 12:15:17 AM
If you find queen cells, gently put them back in the same order (the frames I mean) and don't check them again for at least 3 weeks. Constant checking will run a virgin queen off. Patience is the key to raising queens.

I'm not too far from you and am in your area quite a bit...let me know if you need some help!

Scott
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...And we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

Theodore Roosevelt 1907

FRAMEshift

#9
March 27, 2012, 05:08:32 AM
Quote from: hardwood on March 27, 2012, 12:15:17 AM
I'm not too far from you and am in your area quite a bit...let me know if you need some help!

Scott

beeboy, you should take Scott up on his offer.  He knows what he is doing and a good mentor is worth a lot when you are getting started.
"You never can tell with bees."  --  Winnie-the-Pooh

Beeboy01

#10
March 27, 2012, 11:03:34 AM
Yeah, I already know Scott form the local bee club, like to think of him as a friend, and know that he knows his stuff. If we get together my Mead cellar will take a hit. I've been a hobby beekeeper for about 20 years and usually just do splits not nucs and am just trying something a little different this year. I'll keep trying by swapping out brood from my other hives. Pulling the brood from the hives will help with swarm control.
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