Comments on: Packages or Nucs — Which is a Better Start?

By: Helen

Helen — Fri, 26 Mar 2021 01:13:28 +0000

Great demo, thanks!!

By: How to get Started with Beekeeping | Homestead How-To

How to get Started with Beekeeping | Homestead How-To — Tue, 06 Nov 2018 01:36:05 +0000

[…] get going in the spring, but packages also are much less expensive. Keeping Backyard Bees has a helpful article about choosing which to start with. When looking for bees, you can get local overwintered bees […]

By: Onyemuru Kingsley

Onyemuru Kingsley — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 08:17:33 +0000

I’m interested in knowing more about the queen bee. Can you help out?

By: Allen Scott

Allen Scott — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 12:25:19 +0000

I find it is packages bees for me. Thank you so much for sharing and packages bees valuable information you have been able to share us through this post.

By: Gina

Gina — Sun, 11 Oct 2015 23:14:23 +0000

In reply to Cécile. Very good information ,thank you

By: David

David — Tue, 10 Feb 2015 14:15:11 +0000

In reply to Ron Lane.

@Ron Lane: I’ve heard the same from other beekeepers regarding package bees from California. I was talking to someone from my local bee group and she lost half her hives since fall. All were new hives with Cali package bees.
Also, around here (Indiana), there doesn’t seem to be much of a price difference between nucs and packages. Nucs bought locally only cost $20-30 more than a package from Cali. So the only ‘con’ with nucs is scarcity, at least where I live. If you don’t put a deposit down early, you probably won’t get any.

By: Cécile Stelzer Johnson

Cécile Stelzer Johnson — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 02:43:01 +0000

Hummm. I can see people adding comments, and I’m even notified, but I cannot read the comments that have been added.
Help!

By: dennis

dennis — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 02:30:35 +0000

Some if this is not really true. You absolutely do not need to shake a package into a hive. If you stick the queen in a box of frames, invert the (open) package on the frames, place an MT box over it and close the hive. The bees will move out of the package quickly and go to work. Handle your bees gently and you will get stung less.

In reality, a nuc and package are about the same. You obviously need to care for a package more, but the extra cost just goes for the care the vendor puts into making a nuc. It is a toss up.

By: Ronald Landes

Ronald Landes — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 21:18:42 +0000

Please send more info on beginner course

By: Cécile

Cécile — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:26:36 +0000

Great post on the pros and cons of these 2 methods. I just wanted to add a little more specificity on both.
The pros on a nuc are overwhelming, as far as the well-being of the *colony* goes. (not so good on the pocketbook): The queen is already laying, so she has a head start: The first batch of eggs has ALREADY been laid. Some may be ready to emerge even. That may be a 3 weeks advantage, more or less, in population explosion. But this is not doable for the larger beekeepers: Who can pay $125.00(X the number of hives desired) for each 5 frame nuc? Also, if you have kept bees before, you can give the new package some comb that is already drawn, and also perhaps some stores from a *clean* dead out. That is why experienced commercial beekeepers buy packages: They have the resources to help their 3 Lbs or even 2 Lbs packages. Around here (cold Wisconsin) we may shoot for May.
Another con I can see with the packages is that the queen you get is not always mated, so if you go through a cold spell after installation, remember that she is only viable for about 5 days after she emerges. Minus a day or two for transport and the girl only has 2-3 days at the most for her wedding. Rainy, cold weather for a couple of days and she is done. She has to find a DCA (Drone Congregation Area) within a couple of miles, while all surrounding hives are themselves just starting their expansion ( and they start with foragers at first, not drones), and within that DCA, she needs enough suitable drones. Nowadays, when we want maximum rentability from hives and destroy most drones, that is not always easy. Add a spoonful of pesticides, and most of the drones will be shooting blanks. The poor girl is up against formidable odds. No wonder she may not have enough eggs to last and often has to be replaced sometime in the first summer.
Remember that for a lot of honey, you need a lot of personnel, since the foragers can each only carry so much pollen and nectar back to the hive each time. Be ready to feed a lot so the colony can build up in time for the flow.
Too early, and you will spend a fortune on syrup and feed, too late and your colony will not be built up enough to take advantage of the flow.
Our obsession in getting hives started as soon as possible in the spring may be counter-productive: A June Queen (emerging in a period of abundance) will have a better start: She will have a chance to mate with more drones as all colonies are in a state of expansion and more forage from day one because of the warmer weather. Now the deck is stacked in her favor.