Well, my nuc failed. I thought I had enough brood, drones and worker bees, and honey and took the nuc about 5 miles away from home. I left it there for over two weeks. In that time, they should have made a queen.
When I picked it up early yesterday morning and got them home and opened the Nuc, I saw there were hardly any bees left at all! And certainly no queen. I was very disappointed. I didn't see any dead bees at the bottom so it's a mystery what happened.
One though I had is that we had a few cold nights during that time and I worried they might be freezing. These small Nucs just don't generate the same warmth as a larger hive does with their extra frames and larger numbers of bees producing heat.
So....I ordered a package of bees with a queen which cost me, with shipping, $130. I will use these new bees to start my new hive and hope to get it well established before winter and hopefully have two thriving hives next spring.
Last year, I ordered a nuc with 5 frames of bees and a queen. And I picked them up in Massachusetts.
This year's bees is a "package" versus a "nuc" so there won't be as many bees and they won't be on frames. And they'll be coming via USPS, which may traumatize them.
So I need to study up on adding the queen and the bees into the hive. I've seen it done and read about it but actually doing it will be brand new to me. Can't wait!
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