# what is the best time of day to install a nuc?



## beekeeperlady (Mar 25, 2009)

Im getting 2 nuc's from rickduck tomorrow evening.. were picking them up about 7-8 pm.. remembering that bees get pissed if you wake them at night..(sort of like me lol) what is the best thing to do.. install them anyways that evening in the dark? or keep them in the package till morning.


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## Ben Franklin (May 3, 2011)

I would keep em in the box till the next day.


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## REN (May 7, 2011)

I agree with Ben. Keep them in a safe place the first night and install them the next afternoon/evening.


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

you want to install in evening/nighttime, so why not do it immediately if it's already nighttime? I'd say that's an ideal situation! Put 'em in their boxes w/reducers on, stuff a bit of grass in the entrances, and enjoy watching them clear the debris & do their circling, collecting their bearings, flights on the way out of the hive in the morning 

P.S. I've done this several times, and let me tel ya, it works WAYYYY better than daylight installs! I've had 0 abscondings so far from nighttime cutouts+installs, and the only daytime install I tried absconded as soon as they could get 1 bee @ a time out the entrance!


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## theriverhawk (Jun 5, 2009)

When I bought nucs in the past, I would go ahead and set them out the evening I picked them up in the spot I wanted the hive permanently. I would also go ahead and open up the front of the hive that evening. That way they would orient the next morning while I was still sleeping!! I'd go back the next afternoon and move them into a full chamber in that spot.


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## indypartridge (Nov 18, 2004)

If there's still plenty of daylight, I'd go ahead and install. Shouldn't take more than a very few minutes - you're just transferring 4-5 frames from one box to the other.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Anytime is the right time. When you get the nuc home place it on top of the hive it is to go in and leave it be until the next day, making sure you have opened the entrance. Assuming the entrance has been closed. Then, sometime during the day, transfer the frames from the nuc into the hive. I prefer working bees during daylight hours, not darkness.


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## lazy shooter (Jun 3, 2011)

sqkcrk said:


> Anytime is the right time. When you get the nuc home place it on top of the hive it is to go in and leave it be until the next day, making sure you have opened the entrance. Assuming the entrance has been closed. Then, sometime during the day, transfer the frames from the nuc into the hive. I prefer working bees during daylight hours, not darkness.


Thanks for your professional opinion Sqkcrk. This makes sense to me because like you, I don't have a craving (hankering to real West Texans) to work bees at night.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

You are welcome. Folks should keep in mind that bees are quite flexible and handled properly won't perish easily. The OPer may even find it beneficial to leave the bees in the nuc box they come in for a few days or a week even, depending on the weather and whether the combs in the nuc box are completely filled out. I don't know about MO, but were I home in NY I wouldn't install a nuc in a fullsized box right now, unless I kept them in the same configuration as they were in the nuc box. Not until some nectar flow started. Then I would put one frame inside each of the two outside nuc frames, to be filled if comb or drawn if foundation.


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## beekeeperlady (Mar 25, 2009)

ill put the nucs on the hives til the am.. i get up wile it still darkish in the morning anyways. we have a heavy bloom going on right now at least around me. lots of wildflower/dandelions. and the clover should start blooming in a couple weeks.


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Don't hurry. Why not wait until the afternoon, after temps warm up and they are flying a little. It'll be more pleasant for you and the bees too.


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## robherc (Mar 17, 2012)

lazy shooter said:


> This makes sense to me because like you, I don't have a craving (hankering to real West Texans) to work bees at night.


You should try it sometime, seriously... I get the hankering to work my bees at night because you get to see a more accurate picture of how many bees you have, and I feel they're more easily controllable. During the day, no matter what you do you end up with a cloud of flying bees all around you, but at night, if you use red filters on your flashlights, you can do a full comb-by-comb inspection on your hive & scarcely a bees takes to wing!


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