Posted By Sue:
My bees and I got off to a rocky start, but that means things can only get better from here, right? I picked up my nuc from my supplier on Saturday June 2, and it was pouring rain, windy, and 53 degrees out. Not good bee weather. For non beekeepers, a nuc, (short for nucleus) is a box of 4 or 5 frames that contains a small bee colony. Nucs consist of adult bees, comb with eggs and brood, a laying queen, and various amounts of honey and pollen. My nuc was overwintered in northern Maine, so I know my bees are already natives, and accustomed to our climate. My bees are Carniolans. This race of bees were originally brought from Yugoslavia and Austria, where the winters are cold and the honey flows variable. They are popular and well suited for our northern climates. They are known for being industrious workers,in many types of weather (not just sunny warm days, like some Italian bees I know), and also for gentle dispositions. Here is a photo of the nuc box:
So, since Saturday was a monsoon, I waited to install them in the hive. And waited, and waited. Sunday rain, Monday more rain. It broke somewhat for little while on Monday evening around 5 pm, so I decided to quickly put them in their new home. In Hindsight, I probably should have waited until the next day, as they were not really happy to be disturbed during a cold wet evening. In the photos, you can see me unscrewing the top lid screws, and the nuc box that contains 4 frames. I took those frames out slowly and carefully, then put them into the bigger hive box, on the right of the photo.
You may also notice I'm not wearing any gloves. On a warm sunny day, when bees are happy, that's probably no problem. But... this was not one of those days, and bees were not happy, and I did get stung on the hand. It was my own fault. One landed on my hand, and I didn't look, just brushed it off and when I did, she stung.
Oh well, had to happen sometime, might as well get the first one out of the way.
After that I was really ready to throw the lid on the hive and say see ya later, and that is basically what happened. It was not the optimum day to work bees, but the job was done, and I'll visit them again in a week or so to see how they are settling in to their new home.
So, since Saturday was a monsoon, I waited to install them in the hive. And waited, and waited. Sunday rain, Monday more rain. It broke somewhat for little while on Monday evening around 5 pm, so I decided to quickly put them in their new home. In Hindsight, I probably should have waited until the next day, as they were not really happy to be disturbed during a cold wet evening. In the photos, you can see me unscrewing the top lid screws, and the nuc box that contains 4 frames. I took those frames out slowly and carefully, then put them into the bigger hive box, on the right of the photo.
You may also notice I'm not wearing any gloves. On a warm sunny day, when bees are happy, that's probably no problem. But... this was not one of those days, and bees were not happy, and I did get stung on the hand. It was my own fault. One landed on my hand, and I didn't look, just brushed it off and when I did, she stung.
Oh well, had to happen sometime, might as well get the first one out of the way.
After that I was really ready to throw the lid on the hive and say see ya later, and that is basically what happened. It was not the optimum day to work bees, but the job was done, and I'll visit them again in a week or so to see how they are settling in to their new home.
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