Had a terrifying morning picking up and installing my bees. I assumed that when you bought a nuc it came sealed. Seems reasonable, but boy was I wrong. I noticed some bees were leaking out as I placed the nuc in the back of my minivan, so I went back into the garden store to buy a tarp. By the time I came back my van was filled with about 20 angry (to me anyway) bees. I shooed them out and placed a tarp over them and drove the half hour home in panic as bees buzzed around my son and I's head.
when i got the nuc open, I was a little dissapointed. I could tell that it was just three frames that the store had added two plastic frames to.
On the upside, even the empty frames they added were covered in bees. I never saw a queen or eggs, but I was pretty terrified, and I hadn't figured out how to get a look at the back side of the fram without setting it down and crushing some bees. I did see lots of covered brood and a buttload of uncapped honey, though. I think that is a good sign?
The nuc was heavily combed so I had to scrape it off to get the cover on. I crushed a couple bees. Then I made my big mistake. I decided to pour the bees left in the nuc into the hive. I didn't realize there was a bunch of water just sitting on the bottom of the nuc and it landed right on my girls, pissing them off.
My son, Lou, helped with the smoking and putting in the empty frames. He was chanting, "I'm scared, I'm gonna die." over and over the whole time, but he did it.
I went ahead and bought a super with frames, but I don't know when I should put it in, and I don't know if I should harvest honey from it when I do.
What I am seeing in this pic is the bees letting off pheromones to orient the other bees, right?
when i got the nuc open, I was a little dissapointed. I could tell that it was just three frames that the store had added two plastic frames to.

On the upside, even the empty frames they added were covered in bees. I never saw a queen or eggs, but I was pretty terrified, and I hadn't figured out how to get a look at the back side of the fram without setting it down and crushing some bees. I did see lots of covered brood and a buttload of uncapped honey, though. I think that is a good sign?

The nuc was heavily combed so I had to scrape it off to get the cover on. I crushed a couple bees. Then I made my big mistake. I decided to pour the bees left in the nuc into the hive. I didn't realize there was a bunch of water just sitting on the bottom of the nuc and it landed right on my girls, pissing them off.

My son, Lou, helped with the smoking and putting in the empty frames. He was chanting, "I'm scared, I'm gonna die." over and over the whole time, but he did it.

I went ahead and bought a super with frames, but I don't know when I should put it in, and I don't know if I should harvest honey from it when I do.
What I am seeing in this pic is the bees letting off pheromones to orient the other bees, right?
