Live Bee Instruction Guide

Installing a Nuc

A nucleus colony, or nuc, contains an established mini-colony with 4–5 frames of bees, brood, honey, pollen, and a laying queen. This setup helps jumpstart colony growth. You can install your nuc immediately or wait a few days if necessary. If holding, place it near the new hive location with the entrance open so forager bees can adjust to their new surroundings.

  1. Prepare the Hive: Set up the hive body with room for all frames from the nuc, leaving space for the new bees to settle without overcrowding.
  2. Set Up a Feeder: Provide a feeder filled with honey or sugar syrup (dissolve 6–8 pounds of sugar in 1 gallon of water). Reduce the entrance to about 1–2 inches using an entrance reducer, grass, or newspaper to prevent robbing and to ease the bees' adjustment to their new home.
  3. Put on Protective Gear and Light Your Smoker: Wear a hat, veil, and gloves, and light a smoker to help keep the bees calm.
  4. Open the Nuc: Carefully remove the lid and lightly smoke the top of the frames. This will help calm the bees and make the transfer smoother.
  5. Transfer the Frames: Take each frame out of the nuc, one at a time, and place it directly into the new hive body in the same order. Take extra care with the frame containing the queen, avoiding any squeezing or damage.
    • Positioning the Frames: Place the nuc frames near the feeder if you’re using a frame feeder, and initially keep the frames no more than one frame of foundation away from it. This setup helps the bees acclimate quickly.
  6. Close the Hive: Once all frames are transferred, close the hive to minimize disturbance and allow the bees to adjust.
  7. First Inspection (4–10 Days): After 4–10 days, widen the entrance to 2–4 inches and check for eggs. Eggs appear as tiny grains of rice at the bottom of the cells, a sign that the queen is laying, and the colony is adapting well. If you don’t see eggs at this point, please contact us at millheimhoney@gmail.com. If a nuc doesn’t thrive, it’s often due to the queen not surviving the transition.

Queen Introduction

Introducing a queen to an existing hive is a delicate process and requires confirming that the hive is queenless.

  1. Confirm the Hive is Queenless: Before introducing the new queen, double-check that there is no other queen present in the hive.
  2. Prepare the Queen Cage: Inspect the queen cage, and if there are more than three dead attendant bees inside, introduce the queen immediately.
  3. Remove the Cork: Take out the cork from the candy end of the cage. Use a small nail or similar tool to open a small hole in the candy, being careful not to puncture the queen or make the hole too large, which might let the bees crawl through.
  4. Position the Queen Cage: Place the queen cage between two center frames in the brood nest or cluster area. Ensure the screen side is facing downward so bees can interact with the queen and access the candy end.
    • Secure the Cage: Ensure that the candy end is slightly lower than the queen’s end, and make sure the cage is secured in wax or tied to the top of the frames. A falling cage may harm the queen.
  5. Close the Hive: Seal the hive and leave it closed for a week. During the inspection, confirm that the queen has been released. You should see eggs on 1–2 combs. If she is out but not yet laying, check again in 3–5 days. If she’s still in the cage, gently release her by removing the screen and allowing her to walk into the hive.

Hiving a Package

Bee packages consist of around 3 pounds of worker bees (about 10,000–12,000 bees) and a caged queen. Packages are highly vulnerable as they lack an established brood or comb, so it’s crucial to hive them immediately. If weather delays hiving, keep the package in a cool, dark area, and mist the screen lightly with sugar syrup.

  1. Prepare the Hive: Set up the hive body in advance. A solid-bottom hive without open-air or screen areas is ideal for packages. Reduce the hive space with a single deep or similar setup.
  2. Set Up a Feeder: Provide a feeder with honey or sugar syrup (6–8 pounds of sugar dissolved in 1 gallon of water). Reduce the entrance to 1–2 inches and temporarily close it off with grass, newspaper, or an entrance reducer. Keeping the entrance closed for the first 24 hours helps the bees orient to the new hive.
  3. Remove the Feed Can and Queen Cage: Carefully remove the feed can and queen cage from the package, tipping the package slightly to loosen the can if needed. Cover the hole with cardboard to prevent the remaining bees from escaping.
  4. Inspect the Queen: Confirm the queen is alive in her cage. If not, take a photo and email us at millheimhoney@gmail.com. Proceed with hiving the package with the queen in her cage until a replacement queen arrives to prevent the bees from drifting away.
  5. Introduce the Queen: Remove the cork from the candy end of the queen cage, and hang the cage between two center frames, candy-end down. The bees need access to the screen to care for the queen until she’s released. You can proceed in two ways:
    • Option A: Shake the Bees Out: Hold the package at both ends, turn it upside down, and shake the bees through the hole where the can was. Shake until most bees are inside. Alternatively, you can cut the screen off one side for easier removal.
    • Option B: Place the Package Inside the Hive: Remove 4 of the outer frames and set the package into the hive body, keeping it about one frame away from the queen cage. Shake a few bees out directly onto the queen cage to cover her, which is essential if the temperature is below 60°F.
  6. Close the Hive: Once the package is hived, cover the hive and leave it undisturbed for 5–7 days.
  7. First Inspection (5–7 Days): After a week, expand the entrance to 2–4 inches. Inspect to ensure the queen has been released, and look for eggs on 1–2 combs. If using foundation, the bees should be drawing wax on 2–3 frames. Note on Starvation: Continue feeding the colony until they produce enough honey to sustain themselves. Feed regularly, as package bees need high energy for wax production and colony growth.