Nucs, packages and swarms

Three new beekeepers, three ways to get bees. Anne has ordered a nucleus colony from a beekeeper near Kingston. Her neighbour wants a package of bees shipped in a screened box. And her cousin has just watched a swarm settle on a branch in his backyard, and he wants to keep it. Which of them has made the best start?

Let's take them one at a time, starting with the most common choice in Ontario, the nuc.

A nuc is a small working colony on standard frames. The Ontario standard is a four frame nuc: a laying queen, two frames of brood with bees on them, a frame of food, and a frame of foundation or empty comb, plus extra bees. You set those frames into your hive, and the colony is already running.

Nucs come in two kinds. A spring nuc, picked up in May or early June, usually has a queen that has already come through a winter. A strong one on drawn comb can even give you some honey in an average year. A summer nuc, from mid June on, has a newly mated queen, and it may not give surplus honey until its second summer.

When you buy, ask two questions. Is the queen Ontario stock, or imported? And can I see your permit? Anyone selling queens or nucs in Ontario needs a queen and nuc permit, which means their yards have been inspected. Look for the sticker on the box or on the paperwork.

Now packages. A package is a screened box of bees with a caged queen, and no comb at all. Canada has not allowed packages from the United States since nineteen eighty seven, and the federal food inspection agency kept that rule in twenty twenty five. Packages sold here come from countries like Italy, Chile, Australia and New Zealand, under federal and provincial permits.

Packages can work, but they are harder for a beginner. The bees have to build everything from nothing, and extension guidance describes installing a nuc as much easier than installing a package.

And swarms. A swarm is free, and catching one is a thrill. But you don't know where it came from, and a swarm can carry American foulbrood. Ontario's best practice is to hive a swarm on new foundation, keep it in a separate bee yard until you know it's healthy, and ask an inspector or a vet about preventive treatment. Antibiotics for bees need a veterinary prescription.

Now let's change one fact. Suppose Anne's cousin skips all that and puts his swarm straight into a hive beside Anne's two colonies. If that swarm carried foulbrood, he may have put three colonies at risk instead of one, and every hive for kilometres around.

The mistake beginners make is buying bees from whoever has them, without asking questions. The cheapest bees are rarely the best start. A healthy nuc from an inspected yard, with a known queen, is worth waiting for.

Here is the rule, in one breath. Start with a four frame nuc from a permitted, inspected Ontario seller, prefer a spring nuc with a proven queen, remember that packages from the United States are not allowed, and keep any swarm on new foundation in a separate yard until you know it's healthy.

Next, the day your nuc comes home: installing your first colony.