[bandjhoneyshack]

Just installed my bees this past Sunday. They have been pretty active except for yesterday when it was cold and windy. Question is, how long till they start bringing in pollen. Haven't seen any yellow on them yet.

 

[Vance G]

Pollen is all colors but you should have seen some by now at your location I would bet. Is your queen released and laying yet? They might have other priorities until they have brood to feed. Check to see if that queen is laying in a few days.

 

[drlonzo]

are you feeding them 1:1 sugar syrup at all? This will stimulate the queen to start laying and them to start pulling comb. Without comb, which if you installed on just foundation or no foundation they will need to build - it will take more time to build if they are not being fed. Which will also slow down them bringing in pollen.

 

[bandjhoneyshack]

It was a 5 frame nuc that I installed in a 10 frame deep box. I'm feeding 2:1 sugar water per the beekeeper that I got my setup from. They've almost finished 2 quarts in 5 days.

 

[Bdeaner]

Are the other five frames comb, foundation, plastic or foundation-less? I second making sure the queen has been released. There is definitely pollen available. Wikipedia has a pretty good pollen color identification page:http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pollen_source

 

[bandjhoneyshack]

The other five frames was wax foundation. I plan on opening it Sunday and taking a peek inside.

 

[CajunBee]

I'm on the west side of the state. Orange, yellow and tan coming in. The tan can be a bit harder to spot (Maple and/or blackberries).

 

[Deepsouth]

The main source right now in your location is probably blackberry which is a tanish brown. Not seeing much yellow coming in

 

[RudyT]

I like 3 days to check on queen release and removing the cage, then 10 days to inspect again for eggs/larva and often some capped brood.
Since it has been more than 3 days, I'd go ahead and check asap for queen release.

 

[bandjhoneyshack]

This was a nuc that already had a laying queen...gonna get in hive Sunday to see how things look.

 

[RudyT]

thanks and apologies-- I missed seeing that it was a nuc in message 4 and jumped to a false conclusion that it was a package with caged queen.
they ought to be bringing in pollen. It is good that they are taking sugar water -- although you were told to feed 2-1, the more common advice is to 1-1 or even 1/2 - 1 to stimulate wax building and brood-raising, and 2-1 in fall if needed to be stored for winter.
Do you remember seeing, when you installed into your equipment, both open brood and pollen in the combs?
If not, if I could I would look sooner to check for eggs/larva.
I hope someone more experienced will also reply!

 

[Acebird]

Stop feeding. If they plug the hive of all the cells they have you won't like the results. You said, it is not a package it is a nuc with a laying queen. Where is she going to lay?

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

> If they plug the hive of all the cells they have you won't like the results.

Only the 5 original nuc frames were drawn out - the other frames were foundation.

The other five frames was wax foundation. I plan on opening it Sunday and taking a peek inside.

No harm in waiting til the inspection on Sunday to make a decision on whether to stop feeding. That will have been only 7 days since installation by my calendar.

.

 

[Bdeaner]

Yep, sorry misread the comments above regarding Nuc. I'd imagine they are bringing in pollen.

 

[Bdeaner]

Brian, wouldn't they draw out some if the other five frames of foundation for the queen to lay in?

 

[Acebird]

The point is you want the queen to lay eggs to build the population. If the cells are filled she can't lay eggs. It takes young bees to draw out foundation and if she doesn't lay eggs where are the young bees going to come from? It is not a package it is a nuc. So let the bees do their thing until you have the expertise to improve the situation not hinder the situation.