# Jester Nucs



## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

I am hesitant to start a thread in this forum as I always like to give a person the benefit of the doubt. But I feel that I need to inform others as to what I experienced yesterday. 5-frame high nucs were trucked in yesterday to Franklin, TN. They had a 4 or 3+ on top of the nucs. The ID was to the number of covered frames 2 weeks earlier.

I purchased 4 nucs. While the price was more than great because you got a plastic nuc that didn't have to be returned plus the 5 frames. But upon hiving them yesterday I found that basically I had 3.5 frames of comb at most. Frames 1 and 5 were empty of comb on the outside of these frames and very little to almost none on the inside of these frames. None of them had fully drawn comb on the these frames. Most had a good amount of capped brood but were lacking in larva and eggs. There was very little honey in the frames and pollen was okay in some of the frames but the cells in the brood area were empty. One of the nucs had a lot of emergency cups (nothing in them) on 3 of the frames.

Three of the four nucs were 4s and the other was a 3+.

Is this what I should expect when purchasing a nuc? I know that when I have purchased a couple of 5-frame nuc (Mediums) from John Seaborn they are wall to wall comb, honey, brood, eggs and bees.

I am glad to have the bees and hope that everything turns out okay but to me 5-frames means I am going to get 5 frames completely covered with comb.

NOTE: I have not contacted Jester bees as I didn't purchase them through them directly. I did send an email to the person that was the "middle man".


----------



## 67630 (Jul 17, 2008)

Is there a possibility they were split after leaving jester?


----------



## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

Just received an email from the middle man. I was misinformed at our beek meeting. They were to be 4 frame nucs with 3 frames of brood.

It helpls when you get the correct information. Based on new information, I got 5 frames instead of 4 with 3 frames of brood. Most of the 3 middle frames had brood on both sides.


----------



## Ted Kretschmann (Feb 2, 2011)

I sell four frame nucs. The bees are in a wooden nuc box that the customer keeps. The frames fit tight so in transport the queen will not be injured. The bees should at the very least be covering 3.5 of the four frames. Sometime the outside frames where the nuc wall meet the comb is too tight and the bees can not get there to work. We try to turn these frames around well in advance so the bees will cover them too. The secret to a nuc after it arrives IS FEED. And lots of it. The faster you get the nuc across the hive, the quicker you will be able to put on your first honey supers and produce some honey. You should do well with your four frame nucs but please FEED them. That is some advice from a nuc producer. I have known Kevin Jester a long time. He is a dedicated beekeeper and strives to put out a good product. You have to in the nuc business, because repeat customer makes the business. TK


----------



## mythomane (Feb 18, 2009)

How much comb did you think you were getting with a five frame "medium" nuc in relation to your deeps? Also, these emergency queen cells? Were they just empty cups as you say? This is normal.


----------



## USCBeeMan (Feb 7, 2009)

I expected to get full frames of comb regardless of nuc depth. I would expect to get medium nucs a little later than full depth nucs as they probably are started later.

Regardless, I am content with what I have as stated above. I got a good price. I purchased 4 frame nucs that had 5 frames. I have 3.5 frames of comb on the four nucs and some on the 5th. I have plenty of bees. I was purchasing 4-frame nucs, not 5-frame. So I got an extra frame. 

*The problem was misunderstanding at what I was purchasing. I received a quality product from Jester. I would not hesitate to purchase nucs from Kevin Jester.*


----------

