# How long after hatch to wait to inspect the nucs.



## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

I'd like to see a video where the person is saying how calm the bees are. Comment on how "they're so calm and gentle I don't need protection or a smoker AT ALL".
Then they knock over a bee hive and then cut to you running around the yard getting chased by bees a la Bennie Hill. 
I don't know the answer to your question but had to comment. Thanks for admitting that every day in the bee yard can turn into a serious adventure with a quickness.


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

I usually can avoid using smoke for an ordinary inspection, but for something as invasive as making up the mating nucs I had everything I was working on well smoked. All was well, except the one I knocked over was a different one.

I always wear protection. I learned that lesson the hardway way, a very hard way (another story), back when I was a teenager helping my Grandpa on his apiary. But I had to get them to quit chasing me before I dared go inside. Zero stings, but I'm sure it looked funny.


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## Saltybee (Feb 9, 2012)

funny story ( to read about) thanks for sharing.

I do not look to see if she hatched, the odds of her mating and returning do not hinge on simply hatching, though that is certainly the first step. Wait the 3 weeks to see if she is laying. No proof, but left alone is best. Do not know if anyone ever did a side by side comparing different inspection schedules on queen returns.


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## cervus (May 8, 2016)

JConnolly said:


> *The disaster, I clumsily tripped over a cinderblock that I carelessly left laying right in my apiary work path and knocked over a hive while making up the mating nucs and had 40,000 pissed bees in the air. They chased me around the yard twice before I could get inside to wait for them to settle down. My wife was laughing hysterically at me running around the house. No more cinder blocks in the apiary, I don't need them with my new ant resistant stands.


I just spewed coffee all over my keyboard. Thanks for the chuckle and the mental picture, I needed it.

^ What Saltybee said. Not grafting, but cut QC in nucs, I always wait until she should be laying. About 12-15 days from emergence...usually. I find it easier and quicker to just find eggs. I think the queen needs this alone time to get used to her new digs and go on a date.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Two weeks from emergence date, not placement date. Ends up being about 16 days or there about. This time of year I'm likely to err on the side of caution, however. Checking earlier. At some point you've got to cut your losses and combine.


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## Outdoor N8 (Aug 7, 2015)

This time of year, I erred on the side of upfront caution and looked the day after cells were to hatch (Sunday) and confirmed they all did. Now I won;t look for 12 days, per Laidlaw.

In the spring, I can graft another round, if a queen doesn't hatch (it has happened) and there are no worries, plenty of time on the clock. In the late fall, I feel like it's late in the 4th quarter and the clock allows for no errors. Anyone else feel this way?


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## JConnolly (Feb 21, 2015)

Sounds good. Considering how late in the season it is, and that I have a five day weekend coming up this Wednesday, I'll go ahead and take a peek then. 

If I have one that hasn't emerged I'll give it till Friday, then I'll recombine that nuc with its original source hive.


I am now geared up for up to nine mating nucs, I'll try and gear up for three more this winter, and then have a go at grafting again next spring. I suspect that I am going to have to purchase some queens next spring no matter what, but I hope that spring '18 I can be sustainable plus sell some nucs.


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## Rhodesbeefarm (Aug 16, 2016)

Two weeks after emerged date,mated laying or get the pinch fingers out !!


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Right on the day of the emergence at the hours.
During that time the virgin is too fragile and wet to run away fast enough.
The ones not emerge yet will be for another day to inspect. Sometimes it
will not hatch because the larva is dead inside. Sometimes they turn out to be the
dinky queens. Those will be eliminated right away before the 2 weeks wait time. If you simply
throw her out of the hive she will find her way inside the next day. Doomed the new queen if you happen
to put one for a replacement. Dinky queen is tricky!


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

We count 18 after hatch


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## lharder (Mar 21, 2015)

Queen mating success in my yard went up this year, in part to me suppressing my curiosity. I prefer to wait a few days after she is supposed to be laying before peeking. At that point nucs that didn't take get a frame of open brood. If they make queen cells I remove and combine them. Otherwise wait a bit more.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I often check two weeks after putting the cell in, but that's probably 12 days. Three weeks is better (that would be 18 days from emergence). After that you have to start to worry about them swarming


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