Installing a Nuc

Well, we took another more in depth look at the colony this past Friday and sure enough all the brood from the eggs we had seen were drones.  That means it was a worker laying infertile eggs and not a queen.

As luck would have it, another local beekeeper had some 5 frame nucleii (nucs, basically a small split from a larger colony in a small box) for sale.  She called us right away and said she could bring the bees by Saturday morning which she did.

We met her where our beehive is kept and she helped us select 5 frames that were empty or had some some honey and pollen to remove.  We kept two frames:  one with mostly honey and one full of both honey and pollen.  The existing bees were on the remaining three frames except for a few stragglers.

We pushed the three frames of existing bees over to one side of the hive body and then put the two frames of honey and pollen next to them toward the center.  We spritzed lightly with a mint tea sugar solution we had made up for the purpose.  Then we put in the five frames full of bees and brood from the nuc.  We checked for eggs and even saw the queen as we were doing this so we know they are a healthy colony.  As we put each new frame into the hive we spritzed with the mint and sugar.

When we were finished we had two unrelated colonies in one box, but they were sparated by a couple of frames, they were going to take a little time to clean themselves off, and hopefully the mint scent would overwhelm their natural scent so by the time they realize they are not all related they won't care.

The weather then promptly turned rainy which will a) keep the bees indoors and hopefully make the new field bees less likely to try to fly back to their old home, and b) keep us indoors so we can let them sort of settle into their new home before we get anxious to check in on them again.

Honestly though, after the past year I think we want to take a less invasive approach to helping the bees manage the hive -- of course we want to minimize swarming, but if we can do that by simply keeping extra super space above them at all times rather than continually going in a messing with each frame I think everyone will be happier.

Photos?  I forgot to take any but perhaps Deno has some.  I'll try and post them soon if he does.

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