How do you decide which to purchase? There are advantages and disadvantages for both options. Here are a few:
Advantages of a Nuc
- Contains 4-5 frames of drawn out comb – so faster buildup of brood and honey.
- Contains lots of pollen and capped honey, ready to be used for raising brood
- Often sold in cardboard or plastic box that can be used again
- Worker bees and queen know each other and are already working together
- Easy to install in your hives.
- Typically come from local sources, which means queens are better acclimated
- Often purchased straight from the beekeeper, creating a sense of accountability
- Nucs have every generation of brood already, eggs, larvae, capped brood, foragers, etc.
Disadvantages of a Nuc
- Often available later in the spring than package bees are since packages come from further south and nucs are often local
- More expensive than packages
- Often only sold in deep boxes with deep frames; medium frames are much less common
- Comb may contain pesticides and fungicides you will transfer to your new hive
- The comb that comes in a nucleus hive may harbor diseases
- You can end up with an old queen
- You can end up with old, not nice equipment
Advantages of Packaged Bees
- Installation window is flexible while bees are in screened box. They have food so can hang out in a cool place for a few days
- Easy to treat before they are installed. Can mist with oxalic acid to kill any varroa that might be along for the ride
- Cheapest way to buy bees outside of catching good swarms
- Generally, new queen, only weeks old are sold with packages
- Does not come with any honeycomb, so brood diseases are not spread
- The easiest way to buy bees for a top-bar hive
Disadvantages of Packaged Bees
- Queen is not integrated into colony yet
- Bees must be heavily fed to draw comb
- Slower for colony to ramp up because so much comb will need to be drawn first
- Drifting and absconding is not uncommon
- May have mites along for the ride
- Need good weather for success