[jncapiary]

Hi everyone,

So I am a noobie and found several local people selling NUCS.
The one person nearest to me keeps pushing the date back and keeps saying the bees aren't ready yet.
They aren't strong enough he says and won't sell a weak colony..

So I had another person 30 minutes away from me and he was going to have NUCS available anywhere from the 20th-25th.
That didn't happen and he pushed it to this Sunday the 28th.
Today he messages me and says the bees are stuck in Virginia and wont see them till Tuesday now.

I wasn't ready for bees last year but this year after building all my own hardware and getting everything I could possibly need I am so ready for them.
My thinking is I have waited this long so what's a few more days.

My only concern is how long have the bees been on the truck and how long can they stay closed up in the nuc?
I messaged him that question and just got silence. LOL
Has anyone else ran into this before and how will the bees be after all that traveling and such?
Thanks,
Joe

 

[elmer_fud]

It may also be a supplier problem. Atleast one (I think more) of the local suppliers and bee clubs have pushed back package deliveries. It sounds like all of the rain in California that has messed with almond crops has also messed with package generation because hives are not building up and there are not enough bees to make packages or start queens.

I think both of my hives are about a month behind where they were at last year. I think the march cold snap we got delayed them, and it sounds like one of the local beekeepers that makes and sells nucs (that presented at the local bee club meeting) has not been able to start nucs yet due to not having drones.

 

[JWPalmer]

Jnc, I am just a bit south of you in Richmond. Stick with your local guy that is raising his nucs. We did have a little setback with the 20° temps in March. I had to restart a nuc and lost a few queen cells to the cold. I ended up selling an overwintered nuc that was slated to be a production hive in order to meet a comittment. My first spring nucs (3) are just now getting ready to be released for a May 4th delivery. I had hoped to have them ready mid April.

 

[thehackleguy]

Not to mention I'd rather have a local nuc than one that was delivered from who knows where.

 

[BigBlackBirds]

Bees don't work by our schedule. You either learn to work on their schedule or not.

 

[VickyLynn]

I was planning to start queen cells this week, but yesterday's inspection revealed that there are hardly any drone cells. It's been a cold wet spring, and eight out of the next ten days forecast rain.

I have a waiting list for nucs, and yesterday a woman impatiently asked when she could get hers. I told her mid-May at the earliest. I am not selling my over wintered queen,s until I at least have some replacement queen cells to put in the hives whose queen has been removed. Or sell a nuc with a new queen who hasn't come back from her mating flight and proven that she is laying well.

I know it is difficult to wait, especially if you are a beginner and chomping at the bit to see your own bees flying in and out. But, patience is a virtue, and the bees know what they are doing and won't be hurried.