How to Transfer a Nuc to a Hive Box

  1. Set up a base on the hive stand beside the nuc to be transferred. Face the entrance of the hive in the same direction as the entrance of the nuc. Hopefully you have built your hive stand so that you have room to do this.
  2. Place a hive box on the base. Remove the frames. You will need six frames. The other 4 frames will come from your nuc. This will give you a total of 10 frames in the new hive 
  3. Put 3 of your 6 empty frames of comb or foundation back into your hive against the side of your hive box farthest from the nuc. Put the other 3 empty frames outside the hive, but close by.
  4. Gently smoke the entrance of your nuc. Make sure that the smoke is cool and that it blows into the nuc.
  5. Wait a few seconds. Then using your hive tool pry or lever, lift the lid up a bit. Blow a few puffs of smoke under the lid and over the frames.  Remove the lid and place it upside down on the hive stand.  Do not put it on the ground or the frogs will have a feast. 
  6. Using your hive tool, gently lift the outside frame out of the nuc.  Holding it over the nuc box, (so that if the queen falls off she will fall back into the nuc) look at both sides of the frame. 
  7. Place this frame into the new hive box and push it to the far side up against the 3 empty frames that are already there. 
  8. Repeat this with the 3 remaining frames.  Place them into the new box in the same order and direction as they were in the nuc.  Remember to examine both sides of each frame for the queen.  Take special care when transferring the frame with the queen. You do not want to damage her! 
  9. Once all 4 frames have been transferred place the remaining empty frames one at a time into the new box. Slide them up against the frames from the nuc. 
  10. There will be some bees still in the nuc box. If you did not see the queen on any of the frames that you transferred, she may still be in the nuc box with the other bees.  Carefully tip the nuc box over the new hive box.  Shake, brush, or smoke the remaining bees out of the nuc box into the hive.  Make sure the queen goes into the hive! 
  11. Slide or move the hive into the same place on the hive stand where the nuc had been. Spray some smoke over the frames of the hive. When the bees have gone down into the hive carefully put the lid on. 
  12. You may leave the nuc box on the stand next to the entrance of the hive for a few hours or until all of the bees have left and gone into the hive. Lay it down on its side so that all the bees can easily crawl into the new hive. 
  13. Your transfer is finished.  Check your hive in 10 to 14 days to make sure that the queen is laying eggs. The hive should be growing. The bees should begin to move onto the empty frames.
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Activity: Classroom Demonstration

After your teacher has shown you how to transfer a nuc with the empty equipment in the classroom, be ready to do a transfer yourself. This will help you be familiar with what you will later do in the bee yard. It may make you feel more comfortable. While transferring the empty frames, be sure to go through the motions as if the frames were full of bees. If a frame gets bumped or banged, remember you may have just killed the queen or have just gotten stung.


Activity: Beehive Demonstration

Practise the same technique with bees in the bee yard. As you work with the nuc, think about if the nuc is a good one and have reasons for your opinion. Be sure to remember:

  1. It is important to smoke the bees and work slowly and carefully. Avoid bumping and banging the hive.
  2. Look for things that make the nuc a good one: 4 frames of bees, capped brood that will soon emerge as worker bees, eggs to show that the queen is present, healthy, and laying, and a small store of honey, and pollen.
  3. You must place the frames in the middle of the hive in the same way they were arranged in the nuc, and then place the empty frames on the outside.
  4. After the transfer has been made you must slide the hive over on the hive stand to where the nuc box was located, so the returning field bees can find their home. See how the field bees return to where their hive was, even if you move it only a small distance.
  5. Be sure to record in the school’s Bee record book what was done in the bee yard.
  6. Think about what you expect to see when you come back to check the hive in one or two weeks.

Activity: Assignment
Describe the steps to transfer a nuc into a hive.

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