I’ve installed my package bees or nuc, now what do I do? By: Mike Johnson (Guest contributor)
I have met many beekeepers over the last ten days who have recently started new colonies either from a package or a nuc. There are many similarities and a few subtle differences regarding care post installation.
Package bee care post install:
I typically install them into a single deep or two mediums. At about 5 days I like to verify queen release and remove the queen cage. Very occasionally the candy is too hard for the workers to chew through. If she is still in the cage, spray it with a little sugar syrup, and gently pry the screen off and plop her into the colony. Then spray her again with a little syrup. By five days she should be easily accepted. If you don’t release her the package will lose interest in her. At seven days consider Oxalic Acid vaporization with 2 grams if you have the equipment. At this point there is no capped brood and an OA vape can be quite effective at culling varroa mites. OA sponges or Varroxsan strips can be effective as well. More on monitoring mite populations in a future presentation at the Belfair & Beyond Beekeepers club (or a similar club in your own area).
Regardless of whether you start with foundation or have drawn comb you need to feed. 1:1 syrup (carbohydrate) and a pollen substitute patty (protein) on the top bars. Syrup can be fed multiple ways. Boardman jar feeders on entrance can work if you only have one or two new colonies with no large colonies on your property. Large colonies will try to rob off the Boardman feeders. Division frame feeders that sit in place of a frame inside (I fold a piece of screen wire to give the bees something to climb on so they don’t drown). Hivetop float feeders or jars with perforated lids inverted inside a spare deep work as well.
I recommend feeding until you have a fully populated double deep colony and all foundation is drawn out. As the colony draws out foundation, every five to ten days introduce an empty foundation frame or comb frame to the center of the brood cluster. Add the second deep when eight frames are pulled out or populated in the lower deep.
Nuc hive care post installation:
A nuc already has an accepted, laying queen. No need to look for queen release. The five nuc frames should occupy the central portion of a single deep super. The same recommendations from a package install apply. Every five to ten days rotate a frame or two of comb or foundation into the central brood nest. Again I recommend feeding 1:1 sugar syrup as above and feeding pollen patties until both deep hive bodies are fully drawn out and developed.
I also recommend an OA vaporization at one week as well as offering either OA sponges or Varroxsan strips to suppress varroa mites. I believe in May (2026) at the Belfair & Beyond Beekeepers meeting we will discuss varroa mite monitoring and management.
Once you get to the point of adding a honey super you do not feed anymore. The goal with a new colony is to have two fully developed deep supers with enough honey to survive Winter. Very rarely a new colony is capable of capping a medium honey super for an early August harvest.
I recommend when you do your hive inspections after two weeks that you look for either the queen or eggs. You do not need to see the queen if eggs are present. When you do see eggs the queen is usually on that frame or an adjacent one. Be gentle when manipulating frames. Try not to roll or injure bees.
A recommended YouTube video series is Kamon Reynolds Tennessee Bees. He does a great job of explaining many topics related to beekeeping.
