Nucs vs packages

[GLOCK]

My first year I bought 2 packages and they both died by JAN.  My fault probably . The next year I traveled 3 hours to get my bees {nucs} . That was 3 years ago I have not bought bee again and I'm sell nucs this coming spring as long as things go alright  and I have a good winter survival rate. so far I have had no dead outs out of my 13 nucs and 12 DBL. deeps.
I'd try to get local nucs  or at least in you state . good luck.

[Moots]

Lindsay,
I think the issue has been pretty well covered for you. I agree with the consensus, short of money being the issue, or the fact that you just simply want to experience doing a package...NUCS are a MUCH better choice for all the reasons mentioned.

I caught bee fever in late October of 2012 and got my start by purchasing two Nucs on January 13th of 2013.  I can still remember the anticipation, excitement, enthusiasm...and confusion over wanting to make the right decisions that you are dealing with now.  Through swarms and cutouts, I've grown to 10 hives...So fair warning, the hobby is quite addictive.   

I will give you one word of caution concerning purchasing Nucs, I had a great experience, but know others who have been disappointed.  Understand, there is no definition as to what qualifies as a Nuc.  Try to deal with someone with a good reputation, and know what you expect to receive. 

Things to be aware of...
Not only how many frames, but what's on them.  There should be plenty of bees, all frames should be drawn out and contain either eggs, larva, capped brood, pollen and honey, or some combination there of.  It's kind of nice to see the queen, but I wouldn't say absolutely necessary. 

Different folks do it differently, when I purchased mine, I supplied the Nuc box and arrived about mid day.   With me there, he opened the Nuc, to transfer the frames to my box...Showing me the number of bees, realizing some were out foraging, helped me spot eggs, located and pointed out the queen.  I then returned after dark, closed them up, and took them home.  It was truly a GREAT experience. 

Do some homework and asking around, If you can find someone to offer you a similar experience, it's more than worth the money and your chances of success will be much, much higher.

Good Luck, and keep us posted on your journey as a Beek. 

[LazyBkpr]

Well said Moots!

[LindsayBrower1]

Thanks Glock! And Moots that is amazing! 10 hives! I'm sure I'll be in the same boat too one day ! I've got some good information from a local who is helping me with information on where to buy my bees. I also found a beekeeping group a few towns over that meets on Monday ! I will be attending that to get some additional exposure. I plan on ordering my bees tomorrow 

[Marbees]

with nucs you have decent chances of harvesting some honey. Not much, but still ...
Little or no chances of harvesting from packages in your area.

[iddee]

Keep in mind, you don't have to wait until a super is fully capped to have a harvest. When 1 frame is fully capped, you can take it and put an empty frame in it's place. Then crush & strain the one frame, or cut it up for comb honey. Then look for a full super the second year. A medium frame will give you a quart "liter" of strained honey.

[LazyBkpr]

I plan on ordering my bees tomorrow 

   Good job on the contacts and meeting!
   grats on ordering the bees!!
  Now the anticipation builds!!   The excitement, joy,and TERROR when they come home!!!  LOL  Welcome to beekeeping!

[apisbees]

The minimum for a package would be a 3 Lb to have the bee population to build all the comb needed for the first round of combs for the queen to lay in. A 2 lb package will do OK if given drawn comb for the queen to start laying in. But as Iddee stated a nuc will have a 2lb population of bees with another 2 to 3 lbs of bees that will emerge over the next 3 weeks. Going with a nuc is much less frustrating than waiting for the bees to draw wax and for the hive to slowly build up.

[tecumseh]

a snip...
Let me apologize ahead of time for any questions that may be dumb

tecumseh...
as I have said on numerous occasions to a long list of new beekeepers there are NO dumb question... actually the closest thing that comes to a dumb question is the one you should have asked but did not.

I pretty much sell nucs each and every season.  There are advantages to these in that everything is established and they have about a 60 day lead on any package of bees you might buy.  There are of course disadvantages to the nuc as well since you are much less likely to obtain diseases from a package.  For some endeavors like top bar hives and some of the more unusual sizes of equipment nucs may also either impractical or totally unavailable and therefore package would be the only choice. 

Over the years I have made up lots of package (quite typically while working for some commercial concern) and one real plus for these is when you do install them properly on new equipment, seeing that small set of bees go from nothing to a full and thriving box of bees is almost something magical to witness.  a lot of folks who experience failure in the installation of a package simple do not feed a package enough to get them off to a proper start.

one also need to be careful in comparing cost since all things are not created equal.  another problem is if you are in the market for a package you do need to order these early and not later... often times with nucs on the other hand it is not unheard of for folks to have a few of these made up as extra or as replacements for hives lost so you don't normally have to worry so much about these being totally unavailable. 

I would guess your first choice should wrap around 'what kind of bees do I want' for my specific location < choice of stock in almost any kind of agricultural setting is the most critical decision you will make at the front side of things.  as far as my own OPINION on these matter (and not wanting to fluff any feather here) any talk of 'local adaptation' is likely more a sales lines than anything approaching reality.  choosing the right kind of bee for your specific area should be your first concern <typically I would ask any local beekeepers what kind of bee (we use to call these races of bees) that they use and why do they like them and proceed from there.

there are any number of good beekeeper in New York state so I would guess no matter what choice you do make you will not have to go far to obtain exactly what you are looking for.   

[lazy shooter]

Ah, Tec, your last post reveals your romantic attachment to bees.  It's a good thing to see in a grizzled old fart such as you. 

I agree with the above posters that all things being equal a nuc will grow into a productive hive faster than a package, but I too think there is a lot of learning to be had from a package.  I started with two packages two years back from last April, almost three years now.  I installed three packages into second hand, used, equipment.  I didn't have a mentor or any knowledge of beekeeping at that time.  I viewed some "you tube" installation videos and used that wee bit of information to install the three hives.  Two of those three hive are still alive and prospering.  I fed them all summer, our area was in a serious drought, with a boardman feeder.  From the beginning of the little pieces of pure white comb until there was brood in the frames, was an amazing educational event.  It took me another year to really appreciate what the bees had accomplished under my amateur management, or lack thereof.

Yes, nucs are easier and that is the way I will go in the future, but watching a package develop into a hive is akin to watching a pregnancy mature.  It's somewhat mystical and surely magical.

[brooksbeefarm]

Yes nuc's are the way to go for new or old beekeepers. People think they are saving a little money by buying packages, but by the time you buy all the sugar and the time you put into mixing and feeding them to get the foundation drawn out so the queen can lay in and honey stores, you will have more into them than if you bought a nuc. When buying a nuc, i want the queen to be the mother of the brood and eggs in that nuc and i want a 5 frame deep nuc. When buying a package, you are getting an unproven queen ( and over the years i've had several duds), then you still have to introduce the queen and take the chance she may not be accepted?The worker bees are dumped out of other hives and weighed, and if you ordered a 3 lb. package you will be lucky that two and a half lbs. arrives alive because there is no way of knowing how old the workers are that they send you. JMHO. Jack

[riverbee]

what jack just said, excellent post.....me too.  that's how i buy my nucs.

i do buy packages from time to time, not often, for the most part, these are used for drawing comb.