SETTING UP A NEW HIVE USING A NUC, "NUCLEUS" OF BEES
As promised, here is how I set up a new hive of bees, using a NUC, and my own beekeeping practice.
This is a new, ten frame Langstroth hive, with a screen bottom board for better ventilation. It was painted over the winter and allowed to off gas long before spring, when the NUC, or Nucleus, of bees were picked up from the supplier.
The larger box on the bottom is called a deep, the smaller boxes, not shown here, are called suppers. Suppers are not needed when a new hive is just established. Suppers are for the expansion of honey stores, and some brood, after the hive has had time to build up.
Each of these NUC's have approximately 10,400 bees, and one queen in them. You have to order them in January, for pick up in April.
These are the some of the tools you will need. A bee veil, smoker, brush, hive tool, gloves, and a bee suit. You can't see my hive tool in this photo, but it looks like a miniature crowbar.
I made my own bee suit by using two painting coveralls. I didn't want to pay well over 100.00 dollars for one, and it worked perfectly. I have never been stung working with my bees.
It's very simple to install a NUC of bees, DON'T LET THEM SMELL YOUR FEAR!
I'm just kidding, as long as do things slowly you will be fine.
Using your smoker, gently puff a little smoke into the nuke. This causes the bees to start eating honey. They do this because it is a preservation instinct. If in the wild, a forest fire were threatening their hive, they will eat their store of honey, to give them strength to move to a new location.
So while they have a nice dinner, it's your job to move the feast, with them on it.
One down, and four more to go.
If the bees become agitated, lightly puff a little more smoke onto the NUC.
And just like that, you have installed your first NUC of bees. Set your entrance reducer to the small opening, so that your new hive can defend it easily from other bees that could rob them of their honey while the hive is still weak.
These bees have a view, that today is an orchard. But more on that later, so stay tuned....
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All photos in this post are my own.
Beekeeping is something I want to get into and I've never seen it done this way. Do you just add "suppers" somewhere else as the colony grows? Will you be able to collect honey without the suppers?
The supper will go right on top of the deep. As soon as the bees make comb and fill it with honey. The Nuc comes with five frames of comb and honey. That means they have five more in that deep to fill, before you need to increase their space.
You won't collect honey the first year at all. Some people do, but it's not advised. These bees need to do an enormous amount of work just starting out. What they make has to last them through the entire winter.
Next year, when your bees have filled the deep and one to two suppers, you can harvest the honey in the suppers above that. The queen usually will raise brood that high. Some bee keepers us a queen excluder, to prevent her from laying eggs in the upper suppers.
I appreciate the informative response! This definitely looks like a good way to start.
You might also like my most recent post on a DIY egg incubator, @tahorfarm.
Thanks I'll check it out.
You're welcome @tahorfarm. I'm happy to answer any questions you have, I hope that helped.