Installed two very healthy nucs Tuesday.
Very full and active 4 frames and 5th getting there on each nuc.
1.5 actual quarts each hive of 2:1 sugar:water each hive.
(2 zip lock baggies each at 75-80% full)
Mentor suggested 2:1.
Thursday smoked and opened top and added two baggies each hive (amounts as above).
Baggies were empty and being cleaned out by bees crawling all over baggies.
Friday just now I peaked inside one hive (no smoke) and baggies looked really low.
Bees crawling all over. I did not smoke and only wanted to peak quickly.
Pretty sure super low only but might be flat empty…
Rainy, gloomy, dark, 50F’s each of last days since install. Today the same. 55F. Edit: and rainy today again. Everything is in bloom here and there have been some brief sunny moments when the hives were buzzing and lots of bees outside zooming around nicely.
Should I be going back in TODAY to feed? I wanted to wait and smoke and lay baggies in every other day.
The bees will be ok until tomorrow right? Even if baggies are empty of sugar water?
Plan was for me to feed each two days and only poke around and lift frames one week after install BTW.
You can probably wait a bit as they are most likely storing the syrup as mine are. I made the mistake of feeding too much and now my queen doesn’t have anywhere to lay. Plus if you got nucs then you probably already have frames of pollen and honey.
Let me start with your second question. Your bees are not going to die of starvation in one day. That usually takes weeks, unless they are a package with no food. Even swarms take a week or two to starve. A nucleus will have food reserves on the frames, so they will be OK.
Now to your first question - should you feed today? Well, if they are out of food and the weather is not good, there is no harm in feeding them today. However, I have a question for you. Why smoke them? If you are not lifting the inner cover and not inspecting frames, you really shouldn’t need smoke. Just be quiet, gentle and smooth, and they shouldn’t get very excited. Sing them this song if you like:
Can I just say…
Have look inside to see what the stores situation is…not the baggie but the frames.
If they have capped any at all and they are out foraging you should stop.
I would not disturb more than necessary. I am a beginner but my first package flew away as soon as the queen was free. I looked in and smoked 3 out of 4 days. Mine was a package where yours is a nuc with brood which probably makes a huge difference. Just a caution on making them feel uncomfortable in their own home.
I don’t smoke unless necessary (being aggressive). From what others have said and i’ve learned is that you shouldn’t smoke in the beginning at all because the hive forms around the queens pheromones and the smoke disrupts that organization. When i do smoke (two weeks later) i puff one puff in the entrance and one under the inner cover and that’s usually it. I peeked in on mine for the first 3 days to check queens and make sure they were ok and never smoked them. They are still in the hives. I did have 4 drawn comb frames though which really helps them stick around.
55 is nearly 13˚C. Brood is more resilient than folk realise. I’m not suggesting pulling every frame and examining it meticulously. Just pull the two outer frames. One frame’s worth of food is enough to last the nuc till the next check even if they don’t get out at all. The only way for beginners to learn to estimate stores is to look.