Package bee loss - Nucs better?

[shager]

I tried package bees last year and lost both of them.
i wanted to try nucs this year.
any one know someone in the charlotte area that would sell me
a couple.
very frustrating for a new beekeeper to lose bees
without knowing the reason why.
becasue of demand I did get some of the lastest bees that they had so they never got as strong as i would have liked. i was feeding them constantly just to try and help them make it thru.
No mites in sight and the bees were gone well before time to treat fot them.
I checked them and they were fine
2 weeks later i check again and the only thing left is a few robber bees going in and out.
i have heard a lot of people have lost themthe last couple years but i thought if i kept them fed i was ahead of the game.
any suggestions would be appreciated.

[bleta12]

Open the hives and try to describe what you see.
where are the dead bees? what is the size of dead clusters? Do you see any dead varroa on the bottom board? Are any frames of honey left and the position of cluster in relation to the honey? did you treat for varroa in the fall?
Try to answer some of these questions and you will have a better picture of the reasons of loosing your hives and this season try to adjust.

Gilman.

[peggjam]

You may want to do a posting for these questions in Beekeeping 101. Would get more answers:).

[Sundance]

shager............

How strong were your colonies going into winter?

What breed of queens?

Do you treat for mites?? Mite count??

[drobbins]

first year from packages, I doubt mites are the problem
more likely starvation
we didn't have much of a fall flow in NC
did you feed in the fall?
is there any honey in the deadouts?
bees head down in cells is the classic sign of starvation

Dave

[tecumseh]

snip..
I tried package bees last year and lost both of them.
i wanted to try nucs this year.

tecumseh:
detail of what happened here are sketchy. I would suggest that a hive begun via package even a bit too late (and not fed almost constantly) has little likelyhood of survival almost anywhere in the southern us of a.

[shager]

:)
I tried package bees last year and lost both of them.
i wanted to try nucs this year.
any one know someone in the charlotte area that would sell me
a couple.
very frustrating for a new beekeeper to lose bees
without knowing the reason why.

becasue of demand I did get some of the lastest bees that they had so they never got as strong as i would have liked. i was feeding them constantly just to try and help them make it thru.
No mites in sight and the bees were gone well before time to treat fot them.
I checked them and they were fine
2 weeks later i check again and the only thing left is a few robber bees going in and out.
i have heard a lot of people have lost themthe last couple years but i thought if i kept them fed i was ahead of the game.
any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Sundance]

The Nuc is the way to go then........ sounds like
you did what you could. But late starts on a pkg
won't do as well as a Nuc.

Are there any bee clubs in your area?? Getting
a Nuc from a local beekeeper might be a good
route to go.

[Sundance]

Here's a list of NC bee clubs .......


http://www.beeculture.com/content/whoswho/index.cfm?state=NC#state