First Inspection Concerns (aka New Parent Syndrome)

[Kavius]

I recently purchased my first nuc. Brought it home, installed it, and left it alone for 5 days.

Yesterday I did my first inspection ever and did a very poor job of it, but am a little concerned by what I saw (and more importantly what I didn't see).

I did take some pictures (poor quality, apparently my phone is old tech), and was hoping someone would let me know if I'm interpreting things correctly.

Things I see:
- capped cells
- uncapped honey
- colour of comb (is it normal?)

Things I don't see:
- brood (am I just not looking correctly?)
- Queen-sign

The frames are black plastic foundation.

[TheBuzz]

did you find your Queen?

[robherc]

I recently purchased my first nuc. Brought it home, installed it, and left it alone for 5 days.

Things I see:
- capped cells
- uncapped honey
- colour of comb (is it normal?)

Things I don't see:
- brood (am I just not looking correctly?)
- Queen-sign

That sounds like about what I'd expect to see 5 days after releasing a caged queen. There were VERY likely some eggs/very newly hatched brood in there, but those are extremely hard to find until you've had some experience with them. Not to worry
Yes, "old brood comb" is naturally very dark, like in the pic. If anything, that's probably a good sign, meaning that your nuc may well have been put together & overwintered, before you purchased it.
I'd say, just enjoy your bees for the next couple of weeks, inspect them as you feel the need, but know that it's just to make yourself feel better; if, in 14-18 days you don't start seeing "grub-looking" larvae, then there might be reason for concern; but if your queen was caged for transport, is could take that long to see decent sized larvae.

@TheBUZZ: It's VERY unusual for a newbee to actually find a queen in their first inspection...I spotted a queen for the first time around my 6th or 7th inspection...right around the time I stopped being concerned about looking for her

[Vance G]

That was fine capped brood. My five frame nucs had a lot of that on four frames and some on all. Do you see any glistening white larvae and if your eyes are good; eggs? If you saw eggs, you did not need to find the queen. I seldom go looking for her, just evidence (eggs and small larvae) of her presence. Try not to wear out the lid, but have fun.

[Oldbee]

What do you mean by "installed"? Were the 4-5 frames of a nuc put in a 8-10 frame box with more frames?

The frames of the nuc were probably more than one year old so the colour is normal.
There may be some uncapped brood at 7-8 o'clock PM. and 10 PM. The lighter looking open cells, but that's not clear and larvae are not often seen in isolated cells like that.
Look at a frame without so many capped brood cells and look for a small C shaped object [that's a larva] at the bottom of the cells with some milky liquid. Some C shaped larvae are going to be very small; some a little larger. If you can see larvae more in the center of the frames, eggs will often be seen in cells around the perimeter of that area. Eggs are about half the size of an apostrophe [ ' ] or half of a dash [-] and standing on end in the cell. Takes some practice to distinguish it from a reflection of sunlight in cell. Eggs are sign of a queen.

[Kavius]

Were the 4-5 frames of a nuc put in a 8-10 frame box with more frames?

Yes, that is exactly what was done. I came home with a 4 frame nuc, and put them in a 10 frame box with frames.

That sounds like about what I'd expect to see 5 days after releasing a caged queen

The queen was not caged, I am taking the vendors word a little bit. She stated she had inspected and seen the queen the day before. I did try to be sure I did not leave her behind in the nuc box (checked bees left behind).

14-18 days you don't start seeing "grub-looking" larvae

Good time frame, I'll just sit and wait, thanks. I was looking for eggs and brood, but I think I got distracted by what capped brood looked like; I did not expect it to look like that. You can look at all the pictures you want, the real thing never seems to be the same.



Thanks for the input. As I said, "New Parent Syndrome": I was just teasing my daughter about running to the doctor every other day with her first son.... she'll have fun (at my expense) when she hears about this.

[NirvanaFan]

I was nervous and didn't know what to really look for either. I'm only about 3 weeks into this, so take my experience with a grain of salt, but that frame looks pretty good. Eggs are tough to spot. I didn't see any when hiving my two nucs either. I saw one queen, but not the other. I was able to spend more time in the hives the next couple of inspections though, and found the queen and eggs during those. Look for eggs on a frame that isn't capped, but has a bunch of bees on it. That was where I found the eggs.

I took some free classes with the local club, read 3 or 4 books, and cruised this site for a few months before I got my bees. You're right by saying "The real thing never seems to be the same." It's so much cooler!

[Jim Given]

Your picture clearly shows larva....queen is there. Classic "c" shape right in your picture.

[Kavius]

> Classic "c" shape right in your picture

Well... a game of "Where's Waldo" should keep me busy until next time I go inspect.

Actually, I think I see them now. Guess I just need to get more practice. Thanks.

[Irmo]

I see larvae too. Zoom in on the picture.

[Ben Little]

Hello , where did you get your nuc? Foote Farm or Kevin Spicer ?

Ben

[Kavius]

Foote