New nuc - questions I forgot to ask when I picked it up

Nyleve · May 29, 2016, 09:31:26 PM

Well idiot me. So the guy says come after dark to pick up the nuc. And we arrived at about 9:30 p.m. - I think a little too late. Couldn't see a thing. He hands my husband the nuc and my husband puts his hand right on the opening. No gloves, of course. He gets a bunch of stings and almost drops the box. We finally get it in the car and I drape a sheet over it thinking it would keep them in. We have a hatchback. Guess what - several bees were flying around the car ( did I mention in the dark?) and I got stung on the neck before I got them taken care of. Anyway, long story short I left them on top of the hive until this morning when I got the frames properly put into the brood box. Whew.

Now the questions. We are heavily into bloom season and the weather has been very warm - fruit trees, gardens, wild flowers - do I need to feed the new colony? I've seen them bringing in pollen today but of course can't see if they're bringing in nectar. And my second question is about treatments. Foul brood and mites - when do I do that? My bee guy said mite treatment when they fill out the brood box - he says it will be s couple of weeks. What about foul brood?

Thanks for any advice.

iddee · May 29, 2016, 09:43:59 PM

Offer feed. If they have enough nectar, they won't take sugar water.

Don't treat for foul brood. Treat for mites ONLY after checking and learning that they need it. Preventative treatments only leads to resistance.

cao · May 30, 2016, 01:40:19 AM

I agree completely to what iddee said.

Nyleve · May 30, 2016, 07:10:16 PM

Have put in some syrup. Will wait and see with treatments. Thanks.

bwallace23350 · May 30, 2016, 07:24:03 PM

How do you test for mites?

Acebird · May 30, 2016, 07:41:56 PM

Quote from: Nyleve on May 29, 2016, 09:31:26 PM
So the guy says come after dark to pick up the nuc.

Why after dark? To me that is unusual. Did you inspect the nuc with a flash light?

PhilK · May 30, 2016, 07:54:43 PM

Ace I thought it was normal practice to move hives/nucs after dark because all the bees should be in the hives

Nyleve · May 30, 2016, 09:50:38 PM

Right - it was to be after dark so that they would all be "at home". I talked to him today and apologized for coming so late (9:30) but he said it was ok. He said he actually meant between 7 and 9 but didn't tell me that. Poor guy was traipsing around in his bee yard with a flashlight. It all worked out ok, after the stinging was all done. I wouldn't have inspected anything anyway, day or night. I was just concerned that I get them home ok.

BeeMaster2 · May 30, 2016, 09:57:04 PM

You want to move the bees after dark so that most of the bees will be in the hive. Some will spend the night in the field if the flow is a long distance from the hive.
I would not buy a nuc without inspecting it first. The problem is as a New Bee, you will not know what to look for. Look to see that you have 5 frames covered with bees, The outside 2 frames may be honey/pollen frames but the 3 center frames should be brood. They should be brood that the present queen laid to prove her quality. Look to see if there are new eggs and larvae in the hive. If none You may have a queen that was just dropped in there or have no queen at all. My first nuc had a queen that had deformed wing virus. That means that she never made her maiden flight. With my second nuc from a different supply, he moved 3 frames together and then 2 frames together. It seemed odd and he did not show me the frames. Turned out he was covering up for the fact that there was only 3 frames of bees.
Hope this helps.
Jim

cao · May 31, 2016, 12:23:20 AM

When I bought my first nucs 4 years ago, I took my boxes to the bee guy. He installed the five frames of the nuc into my boxes. Then I came back later to pick them up, either after dark or first thing in the morning. Not being a morning person, I chose the after dark option. He waited until after dark and stapled screen over the entrance. He was over an hour away so inspecting the nucs beforehand would have been a pain. Also being new to beekeeping I wouldn't have really known what I was looking at either. I was happy with my nucs. The decendents of those nucs are the majority of the 29 hives that I have now. There needs to be a measure of trust between the seller and buyer. It would be ideal to inspect your nuc first but that isn't always possible.

Acebird · May 31, 2016, 08:42:50 AM

OK I would never pick up a nuc after dark. About a 1/2 before sunset just about all the foragers you want are in the hive. Do you need every last cronie back it the Hive? If you open the hive after dark you are going to lose a whole lot more bees and most likely they are going to try to sting. The person I bought nucs from showed me every frame and pointed out the queen. There were picked up at 6:00 PM in June which is about 3 hrs before sunset. What ever foragers didn't get back in the box did not make any difference. If you catch a swarm do you think you are going to get every bee? You don't need every bee. Pick up a nuc when you can see and just avoid the foraging hours from about 9 to 5.

Acebird · May 31, 2016, 08:48:59 AM

Quote from: cao on May 31, 2016, 12:23:20 AM
Also being new to beekeeping I wouldn't have really known what I was looking at either.

Hopefully the person you bought the nucs from knows bees. This is the perfect time to learn and pick his brain. I can't imagine a person selling bees who would not take the time to help his customer be successful with the bees he is selling. After dark is shady, no pun intended.

Nyleve · May 31, 2016, 09:12:15 AM

I know the guy and he is solid. He is about a half hour drive from me and sells bee equipment and supplies. I have been dealing with him since I started beekeeping 5 years ago. I'm absolutely sure he wouldn't sell me anything that wasn't 100% and if there's I problem I know I could go back to him about it. He says it's a strong nuc and it looks that way to me. Even when I put the frames into my box I didn't find the queen because I'm still a bit uncomfortable rummaging around in the frames. There was definitely plenty of brood anyway. We will see!

Acebird · May 31, 2016, 09:50:25 AM

My comments were meant for someone new to beekeeping. Even still I have 5 years under my belt and I still would not want a hive in my car at night. Loose bees crawl around when it is dark and they can find you and if they do they will most likely sting. In the day time they will be trying to get out the windows. So if you cover the ones that don't open they will most likely find the ones that do.

GSF · May 31, 2016, 03:45:31 PM

My apiary is behind my house. When I sell nucs I go to a larger hive and select 5 frames from it. I point out the queen, laying pattern, and shake it full of bees. Some customer once tried to give me $20 more for a nuc on account of what they got. I tell them I want to keep a frame that has eggs on it so they can make another queen. 8 times out of ten the left overs will re queen. I also educate my customers on beekeeping and at times I will have them come and I'll take them through a hive, sometimes twice at a later date. However if they are buying an 8f deep, I do suggest that they wait until right before sunset or right at daylight because of the foragers.

On more than one occasion I have gave them extra brood or another queen. One instance someone left some stinking mite treatment on all winter. The bees finally absconded on account of the smell. This person bought 5 hives from me the year before. I had them bring me two empty hives so I could put some free swarms in them - and I did. I prefer friendship over monetary gain. They have the understanding when they leave my place that I will help them what ever way possible to be successful. Normally out of 15-20 customers you only have to help one or two.

Point being, a person that sells bees should make themselves available to their customers as much as possible. I hear talk from my customers about other sellers. Most of it is around not being given the time of day after the sell. New beeks will have a lot of questions that should be answered by at least the person who sold them the bees.

herbhome · May 31, 2016, 07:54:01 PM

GSF,

Just wondering what kind of mite treatment caused the bees to abscond?

GSF · June 01, 2016, 11:11:35 AM

I forget the name of it, but it was a strip you lay down on top. I don't use them but I think they are only to stay on a week or so. It reminded me of someone not brushing their teeth and using brown colored Listerine to cover up a drinking problem. Gosh awful smell. I almost absconded but I didn't have no place to go.