A little help, please?

1097 Views 3 Replies 4 Participants Last post by concrete-bees, May 9, 2010

nicktulloh

Discussion Starter · May 9, 2010

I was hoping you all could take a look at two pictures and give a noob your opinion.

I installed two nucs 6 days ago. One was pretty passive and the other was very aggressive. During my first inspection, they were both pretty much calm.

My questions are;

1. There were a total of five swarm/supersedure cells on two frames of the initially aggressive nuc. I didn't remove them during installation because it was a little hectic

. Is it normal for a nuc to have swarm/supersedure cells or is it an indication that the nuc has been around too long?

2. There was also a lot of burr comb in that nuc but my other question was to do with the 'tightness' of the nuc. Instead of the nice even flattish surface of the built up, capped comb, a couple of these frames have a surface more like rolling dunes. Might this be because the nuc was loose and there was too much space between the frames?

http://picasaweb.google.com/ntulloh181/Bees#5469270309663165202

3. Does the other (flat) frame look okay?

http://picasaweb.google.com/ntulloh181/Bees#5469270317126432402

Thanks in advance.

Nick

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Ben Brewcat

· #2 · May 9, 2010

The wavy comb... it happens. Not a big deal unless it's so out of true that you pinch bees or damage comb removing frames.

The Queen cells: where were they on the frame? With established nucs it's easy to have them swarm; did you purchase the nuc? Cells this time of year are usually the result of swarming. What was the brrod like (how many in what stages)? That can allow you to make an educated guess about swarming vs. supercedure. They probably were defensive because they were temporarily queenless. So it's a good thing you didn't cut out those queen cells! One of them will be your next queen.

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StevenG

· #3 · May 9, 2010 (Edited by Moderator)

Hi Nick!

I assume you've transferred your new nucs to 10-frame equipment (or 8-frame if that's what you're using.
Re: your queen cells...have you inspected that colony yet to find a queen? My suggestion is to look for a queen, a laying queen. IF you have such a lady, you have two choices... destroy the queen cells, OR (my preference) take that frame of bees out, and put them back in the nuc box they came in, with drawn comb if you have it, foundation if you don't, and feed them. Pretty soon you'll have a new queen and another hive! And if you don't want another hive, simply let that new nuc grow until you decide to unite that nuc with the weaker of your two colonies. This could be both fun and educational for you.

If you don't have a laying queen, count your lucky stars that you have one on the way!

The comb, from what I could tell, I wouldn't worry about. Especially if they fit together fairly snugly as intended, eg end bars to end bars... if not, simply work those comb to the outside as the nuc grows, then eventually pull them and replace them. No biggie right now.
Regards,
Steven

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concrete-bees

· #4 · May 9, 2010

the first picture looks to me like capped honey - notice that its rather ripply and the second picture looks like a great brood pattern --

the swarm cells that you are talking about might be from the nuc sitting too long and not being checked -

if you are worried about the chance of swarming on a nuc you can take the frames that came with the nuc and shack all of the bees into a new box with foundation - all bees - queen and all

if they have no brood the queen will not swarm - this will set you back about 3 weeks but it will keep them from swarming -

but once the cells are capped its hard to stop the swarm

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