The Best Way to Install a Nuc

Dad and I have been super busy with the bees.

A week ago we picked up two nuc hives to install in the bee yard beside our other two existing hives.

Here's the best advice I got from a long time beekeeper about "The Best Way to Install a Nuc". I haven't installed tons of nucs like some beekeepers but these instructions work great!

These steps will stop bee losses from the bees flying around too much in unfamiliar territory and getting lost.

1. When you first get home with the bees set the nuc box in place and then wait until dark. Once dark, open the front flap of the nuc box to allow the bees to come out.

Have a flashlight handy and smoker if needed. Wear your bee gear because they can fly and sting at night. With the flap open they'll be able to explore the area outside the hive, get familiar with the scents, etc. Most of the bees will not fly in the dark but will hang out just outside the flap, clean house and carry out their dead. With the flap open it'll be much easier for them to ventilate the hive so they don't get too hot. (If it's a cardboard nuc you'll want to temporarily tape the flap down).

Make sure you put a covering of some kind over the ventilation holes on the top of the nuc box in case it rains - but don't put it right on top - leave air space for ventilation. A lot of bees have been shaken into that container and they can get too hot quickly.

2. The next morning, around mid morning, install the frames of bees right where the nuc box was placed (move the nuc back and set your deep in its place). The bees will be already out flying and gathering. You'll probably see them coming back with pollen.

Have your smoker lit but you probably won't need to smoke the bees when doing the installation. They usually cling to the frame and cluster over the brood. One of the outside nuc frames should be of honey for feed and you'll find it much heavier than the other frames.

The nuc will have anywhere from 3 to 5 frames. Most nucs are 4 frames. Keep the frames in the same order they are in the box. Put the first new 3 empty frames with foundation on one side of the hive then add the 4 nuc frames. Initially, set them in far apart and after they're set in place, wiggle them gently into position, maintaining the bee space. If there are a lot of bees between the frames a slight wiggle back and forth as you slide the frames closer helps give them a warning and a chance to move out of the way. Then add the last 3 new empty foundation frames (for a total of 10 frames) to the hive. Check out your bee space between frames. Take some photos!

There will be some bees left inside the nuc box after you've removed the frames. Sometimes they get stuck under the flaps of the cardboard nuc. You can hold the nuc upside down over the hive and shake the bees into the hive. Don't be afraid to tap the cardboard to urge them to leave. If you have more time you can set the nuc box in front of hive and leave it for 20 minutes or so. The bees inside will soon smell their queen inside her new home and fly to her.

3. Place the entrance reducer into the hive on its smallest setting.

4. Feed them sugar syrup for at least a couple weeks. The syrup will help them to produce the wax required to build combs on the new frames. I highly recommend a hive top feeder as the easiest to access without disturbing the bees. It also holds the most syrup - don't overfill because when doing inspections you will have to lift it up and the syrup can slop over the sides.

Once 7 of the 10 frames are drawn in comb, it's time to add another deep or super of frames. If the nuc frames had dark brown combs you may find the newly built combs are brown (new combs are off-white). The bees will steal any extra wax from the old frames to build faster on the new frames.

It'll probably take the bees 1 to 2 weeks to draw out comb on the other frames. This is an estimate as the length of time varies depending on nectar sources, temperature, time of year, number of bees in the nuc, etc.

Bee Day At Last!!!

As mentioned in yesterday's blog, we didn't open the nucs when we brought the bees home yesterday.

Instead we planted the nucs where the hives would rest and waited until dusk to open the bottom entrance.

The advice was that if the bees were introduced slowly they'd have more time to orient themselves to the location.

By being oriented a little more slowly they wouldn't fly off and be lost.

When we arrived the next morning the bees were flying happily in and out of the nuc box, even bringing back pollen they'd found.

We planned to arrive around 11:00 (mid morning) to hive the nuc frames of bees into the hives.

Codie even got the day off school so he could come and help. (Codie, you owe your Auntie for getting you out of school for a day).

During the night I woke up a couple times, worried that raccoons might tip over the nuc boxes. I was very relieved to arrive and find everything just as we left it. Whew!

Codie got the smoker going and then watched from a safe distance. Dad and I wore bee veils and Dad handled to smoker while I focused on opening up the nuc boxes and pulling out the frames.

My plan was to be organized and calm so we talked about what would be done each step of the way before we started.

We gave them a little bit of smoke in the front entrance and through the screening on top.

The nuc box comes with little cardboard divisions that hold the frames in place and the lid was taped on. All I had to do was cut the tape and take the lid off, and viola... Bees!

Even though the bees hadn't been in there that long, the frames were stuck down. I was able to pull them out by hand with a little wiggling. The bees were very calm and clung to the frame. Not once in the whole procedure did bees fly up or land on us.

The frames should be placed into the hive in the same order that they're in the nuc. Also, the frames should face the opening in the same position as the nuc. This keeps everything as familiar as possible for the bees.

I took out the first frame, lifting slowly straight up. I was not going to spend time looking for the queen.

I figured that would be resolved when I do my inspection a week from now. And I didn't want to stress the bees any more than necessary.

I did not put the empty frames with foundation in first so as to leave more room for the nuc frames.

As I picked up each frame, the bees were very calm and clung to their frame. None of my helpers ran off in fear. In fact, once they saw that the bees were gentle, they came in for a closer look.

I set the frames in one by one with lots of space between them. Then I carefully and slowly snugged them up to each other and the edge of the box.

After that I added in the 6 frames with permadent foundation. This permadent is black--all the better to spot the white eggs.

Then I slowly spaced all the 10 frames out so that they were mostly equally spaced.

It was all pretty easy and smooth.

Then we put the hive feeder on top.

My hive feeder is a wooden box with a metal bottom with holes drilled in a well area where the bees could climb up and over the edge of the well to drink without drowning. I used a water and sugar mixture of 2:1 (2 parts water to 1 part sugar).

I debated over using a rim spacer and a sandwich bag with sugar water but since I had the hive feeders I decided to use them.

Next I took the nuc box that still had a few bees in it and I shook it very strongly over the hive. Then I set the box in front of the hive so any stray bees would be able to pick up the smell of the hive and find their way.

After that we popped on the outer cover and set a couple bricks on top.

Then we watched and it was amazing to see that the bees were already bringing back pollen--huge clumps of white pollen on their back legs.

This was a relief to see them finding food because we are between major flower blooms at the moment--the whole broken arm thing delayed me setting up the hives in the middle of the best bloom time.

There's lots of water in the swamp too so I don't need to worry about them finding that. Hopefully the sugar syrup will tide them over for a couple weeks until they get some comb built and the next wave of blooms come in.

Then we repeated the same process on the second nuc.

I opted for a pink and green theme for the hives just to liven things up a bit.

The pink bar is the entrance reducer which will only need to be in place for a week or so.

The whole process of installing the nucs went very calmly and very smoothly and no one got stung.

After about 45 minutes the nuc box was empty of the leftover bees and I moved it away from the site.

We watched as the bees were a little confused for a bit over the new entrance (reduced) and they took some time to find where it was.

It wasn't long until bees stuck their rears up at the entrance and fanned furiously, sending out homing pheramones. You could actually see the incoming bees catch a whiff. As soon as the bee starting scenting the entrance the bees zeroed on it immediately.

The bees were very calm and placid and they made a very good impression on us first time beekeepers.The bees were very calm and placid and they made a very good impression on us first time beekeepers.