Three weeks and 4 days ago, I installed my nuc. A nuc (nuclear hive) is a 5 or 6 frame mini-hive. It can contain 12,000-15,000 bees with their queen, workers, brood, honey, and pollen. In contrast, a package of bees is 10,000-12,000 bees paired with a separately packaged, random queen, no brood, honey, or pollen. Starting from a package, literally has your bees starting from scratch.
First off, I made a gallon of 1:1 nectar by dissolving 10 2/3 cups of sugar in 10 2/3 cups of water. There was nectar for my top feeder and some for my atomizer.
The nuc had been in position next to and in the same orientation as the recipient hive with its entrance unplugged for a few hours, in order to assist the new residents’ orientation to the new hive.
I’d previously prepped the recipient hive by removing the necessary number of frames (6).
Then I sprayed the interior and remaining frames with nectar.
I smoked the nuc to calm the bees but I tried to minimize its use.
Then used my hive tool to free up the frames
Maintaining their orientation, I inspected each frame for its contents and to locate the queen,
Then, maintaining their order, I transferred each frame into the hive.
The queen was on the 5th of 6 frames
With the frames in place, I placed the inner cover. Then placed and filled the top feeder.
I placed the outer cover and called it a day.
The workers hanging out in the empty nuc, found their way into the hive over the ensuing 24 hours.