Timeline...?

[kaisfate]

I was thinking...(I know, thats a scary thought) :)

I was thinking it would be cool for us newbeeks to have some sort of a "guideline" to refer to with inspections/progress of a newly hived swarm/package in TBH's and/or Langs.

Like how long do we wait to inspect, what should be we expect to see on day 7, day 16, day 32 etc. I mean it doesnt have to be specific, just a general idea of what occurs. Like we should begin to see comb in 14 days, and brood in 21 or whatever.

I searched around to see if I could find this already but couldn't.

[schmism]

you can find a bee life cycle chart. shows the various stages and you can add days to it if it doesnt already have it.

[DaggerD]

I would like to see something like that as well. Not so much the life cycle of the bee, but more about when I need to be doing things in relation to first hiving the bee's.
Do I check back in a week after first hiving a nuc? Two weeks?
I just put a nuc in a langstroth and one in a top bar hive. I only want to disturb them when I absolutely have to, so a timeline chart would be great.

[RayMarler]

The problem with your requests for a timeline of what to do has a few very important variables.

Nucs vs. packages, and what size of each ie: 4 or 5 frame nucs are the most popular, and 3 or 4 pound packages are the most popular. Nucs build up faster than packages if quality of queens/bees and health are equal

Nectar flows, weather, length of days and wether days are getting shorter or longer (usually it's in spring and days are getting longer)

Availability of pollen plants.

wether you feed sugar syrup and/or pollen substitutes.

wether you hive the package/nuc on foundationless, foundation, or drawn frames.

wether you hive them in small box or large box with more space than what bees can defend.

So many variables that can make a big difference in the buildup of a package or nuc.

I will attempt a general guideline/timeline...
Hive a package in a 5 frame nuc or in a 8 or 10 frame box with follower boards so that the bees have no more than 2 frames above what they can cover. If hiving them on foundationless or foundation frames, feed sugar water until 80 percent of the frames are drawn and covered with bees in a full box. As far as how much time this will take, there are just too many variables. I'd box them and check back in 14 days, to make sure queen is laying and see what progress has been made in that time. Depending on what you find in this inspection will determine when to check back on them.

If hiving a nuc, hive them in a full box is usually ok, as they already have 4 or 5 frames drawn and filled with brood and nectar. If hiving them in a box of foundationless or foundation frames, feed them sugar water until they have 80 percent of the box filled and covered. check back in 14 days and see how they look, and go from there.

I always recommend using entrance reducers until you have a full box of bees covering at least 80 percent of the frames. This helps to be sure the bees are populous enough to defend the box as a whole.

best of luck, read all you can, but most of all, get the bees and watch the front board alot and check on them now and then to learn. You'll learn more from the bees themselves, watching them will help explain what you are reading and hearing from people here in the forums.

[frysl]

This thread may help you also. Take a look at post #7.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224682

Steve

[Michael Bush]

The problem would be getting the bees to agree to the timeline... ;)

[beerookie]

Good one Mr. Bush!