Nucs and Terramyacin patty

[Mapletop]

I've just rec'd two nucs and plan to hive them tonight. I have some T-pattie left and wonder if it'd be adviseable to give them that once they're hived. Also, should the hive entrance be closed up for a while or just let them go about on their own from the get go? Thanks.

[standman]

Reducing the entrance probably a good idea. I hived a nuc yesterday, and reduced the entrance to keep robbing down since I am feeding. If your nuc is like mine (and not a package), they have been with the queen for some time and should be just fine with the new location. I did put a branch in front of my hive to cue them to the need to reorient to the new location. Good luck!:)

[beemanlee]

Mapletop,
The patty is for the control of foulbrood in the larve! Don't use it a lot for things that it is not intended to be used for.
If you do use it do it spairingly. The patty is also good for the control of the endomites. As the oils biodegrade, the smell it makes, masks the young bees till they dry and have lost their smell that the mite is vectoring in on. Commerical beekeepers use this in the late fall and early spring on over wintered hives. Don't use it during the honey flow.

If their is a honey flow going on where the nucs are then "no" you don't need to reduce the entrance of your nucs. If, on the other hand, you have a problem with yellowjackets or wasps then "yes" you do need to reduce the entance.
Lee...

[Michael Bush]

None of the experts recommend using terramycin patties at all any more. They contribute to TM resistant foulbrood. Dusting is the accepted method of applying TM to a hive. I wouldn't do that either, but that is the recommended method, if you are going to do it.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beespests.htm#afb