# feeding nucs



## shughes (Jan 17, 2007)

this is my first full year of beekeeping. i pick up my two nucs tommorow and i'm excited that they will be installed several weeks before the main tulip poplar flow here in our area (late april). 

i have heard different viewpoints on whether to feed or not feed nucs and also if feeding to wait a day or two until the nuc settles down. since our main flow is not until the end of april i was leaning more towards feeding by adding about a gallon of sugar syrup to each top feeder i have and see how the girls take it.

any opinions on the direction i should take and whether i should setup the feeder during the install or wait a day or two?


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## peggjam (Mar 4, 2005)

If there is no honey flow going on in your area, I would feed, feed, feed. I would feed until the bees nolonger take the feed you are offering .


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

Good point peggjam!

Yes, I would feed for sure.


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## livetrappingbymatt (Jan 13, 2006)

*feed*

i would feed and give them pollen paties. watch the brood pattern if you get too much they may swarm. 
when i get nucs they are feed until the box is full of bees than it's into a 8 frame or 10 frame w/insulated cover. that seems to bost them up.
bob


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## Korny's Korner (Mar 25, 2007)

If you are starting them on new foundation Feeding is a must. Your package will have a can feeder with the package. I always leave the can with them the first day or two. If empty when you install package it is easy to refill, have some syrup with you. After you are sure the queen is released just feed (I use 2-1 mix) and don't get to nosey for a few weeks. Can lose a queen. But my experience with packages is they will want to start to build supersedere cells after the queen starts laying. Not sure why, but I think it is because of lack of brood. If you have a hive that you can pull a frame or two of brood it will help control this problem and get them off to a great start.

Korny


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## tecumseh (Apr 26, 2005)

although I PREACH the gospil of providing adequate nutrition for your newly acquire bees it should be pointed out that you can most definitely feed to excess. this can be a bit tricky for the new bee keeper (ain't easy even for us old bee keepers) since the nectar flow is building with time and the feed requirements are very slowly decreasing. So if the nuc is light (on feed) or you need to drawn foundation... then feed. If you feed them so much that they plug the brood nest then you are simply creating another problem.


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## shughes (Jan 17, 2007)

thanks for all the replies. i have a 1:1 syrup ratio ready. only going to put in about a gallon of syrup for each hive. my nucs will be 5 frame and will be going into a 10 frame deep with foundation. 

the weather is supposed to get a little chilly in a few days with scattered showers and its possible it will hang around for two to three days. for the most part the maple bloom is over here. we do have blackberry coming up in a couple weeks but our main tulip poplar flow is in 3 weeks. as i understand it the tulip poplar is the big one for us.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

I'm north of you and all of my hives are already storing honey. BTW, the poplar is NOT the only big flow we get - first holly blooms appeared this past weekend. My hives stopped taking syrup about two weeks ago and all have a great supply of fresh pollen. While it won't hurt to attempt to feed syrup (forget the patty at this point) I'd suspect that they'll do fine without any feed. A package on bare foundation would be a different story. I'd try a quart feeder on each nuc and see how well they take it. If they jump on it then pour it to them, but if not then save your money until they really need it.


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## shughes (Jan 17, 2007)

what is interesting is one hive started right up on the syrup and the other has not touched it. i do need to point out i peeked in the hive top feeder a few hours after the hives calmed down. will be interesting to see how the two hives compare tomorrow.


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## shughes (Jan 17, 2007)

oh, and i can already see why most people on this forum recommend starting with two hives. i am hoping i can catch swarm from my church that is about 5 miles away so i will have another hive to compare to with my current two hives that were started today. this is so addicting.


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## buz (Dec 8, 2005)

YES--addicting.


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## Jeffzhear (Dec 2, 2006)

A wonderful <yet EXPENSIVE> addiction! What a great way to relate with Nature...


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## Ben Brewcat (Oct 27, 2004)

Yeah, forget medicating your bees, medicate the Beekeeper!


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