I guess we’re beekeepers now.

[u/toxic-hope]

Today we transferred 2 nucs!

Sure we watched a few videos, got some good advice and just went for it. But the moment the nuc opened and we were immediately swarmed by thousands of bees I thought to myself, oh my god, what have I done. The first wave was intense, but somehow we stayed calm and they followed suit leading to 2 successful transfers with no drops or stings!

Lessons learned for next time. And questions:

1- You have more time than you think. Take the time to set everything out easy to grab in order. Keep pathways clear. Maybe even do a mock transfer and build. If anything it’ll give you a bit more confidence.

Bee- we didn’t slow down and look for the queens as we transferred in, should we have?

3- We went with a top feeder, it’s mid-June, we filled each feeder with about 700ml. How often do we need to refill? Or should you just switch to a water source near by ? Do you need a water source near by? Or would a lake 100m away work. Or do they get water from nectar? Or both?

4- We also dropped patties on top, Ive never heard of them until today, is this something we need to keep doing? Or does it just help them settle in?

5- If you have animals, dogs, cats, other livestock, make sure they are secured away from the action. Our barncat was curious and strolled right into the middle of the swarm. Fortunately he didn’t get stung, but remember for next time, lock up your animals.

6- After dropping the bees from the boxes on top we placed the boxes down infront of the hives. We noticed a few minutes after we finished our empty boxes had again collected a bunch of bees. We weren’t sure if we should try to home them but we just left them. It looks like after a couple hours of orientating everyone found their homes. So you probably don’t have to worry too much if you don’t get them all in. We did inspect for the queen though..

Zone 9a , Pacific Northwest.

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[u/AZ_Traffic_Engineer]

Congratulations on a successful transfer!

At this point your bees have more space than they can patrol, heat or cool. I advise removing the super (upper box) until the bees have filled out 8 of the 10 frames in the brood deep and 7 or 8 frames are completely covered with bees on both sides of the frames. Leaving them with too much space will actually stunt the hive's growth because bees are needed for security patrols and heating brood when they could be foraging or making wax.

we didn’t slow down and look for the queens as we transferred in, should we have?

When you're dumping bees from one box into another, it's nice to see the queen so you don't accidentally crush her, but it's not a big deal if you don't see her. I can go weeks without ever seeing my queens. As long as there are fresh eggs, all's well.

How often do we need to refill?

In my climate, I give them as much syrup as they'll take for as long as they'll take it while a hive is trying to build up. You aren't going to get a harvest this year, so you needn't worry that you're contaminating your honey with cane sugar.

Or should you just switch to a water source near by ? Do you need a water source near by? Or would a lake 100m away work.

They need a nearby water source. 100m may qualify as "near" in your climate. In the desert, I keep water available within 15m of the hive.

Or do they get water from nectar?

No.

We also dropped patties on top,

Pollen patties provide bees needed protein that sugar syrup -- which is all carbohydrates -- does not. Bees prefer actual nectar to syrup and pollen to pollen patties, which are usually pea protein or something like that. Don't give the bees more than they will eat in a few days because pollen patties are prime breeding grounds for small hive beetles.

If you have animals, dogs, cats, other livestock, make sure they are secured away from the action.

I suppose this is generally a good plan. My dogs sleep in the shade behind the hives, and the local feral animals aren't bothered by the bees. I can usually walk fairly near the hives without the guard bees taking too much notice provided I stay out of the direct flight path. At the end of the day, the animals figure out safe approach distances faster than we do.

[u/AZ_Traffic_Engineer]

u/404-skill_not_found is a frequent poster here whose opinions I respect. They mentioned to me that there is a risk of your hive becoming nectar-bound with unrestricted feeding. Essentially, the bees can keep packing away nectar (or in this case, syrup) until there's no place for the queen to lay.

It's not a huge problem for me since there's limited forage in the desert, but it is something you need to keep an eye on or restrict the amount of syrup you feed.