Bee Pick Up Day- These are basic instructions to help you when ordering a Nuc with Bees.

                                                               Nuc Pick Up Day: 

• Go home or to the destination of your bees new home as soon as possible and open the hive!
• We place your bees in lock down to allow you to transport them safely, upon arriving to your destination remove the mesh covering the entrance of the hive. Please do this process where your new hive is going to remain. The bees will be creating a new flight path and you don’t want them to have to create this again when you transfer them into their new permanent home. If you do this properly the first time the transition for the colony will be much smoother when removing the frames from your Nuc box into your new hive box. Take into consideration which direction you want this flight path to be and avoid aiming the entrance to a common area of your backyard. 
• You may transfer your bees the same day or wait 1 week however we do not recommend that you wait longer than 1 week as they are full and we are in Spring. Spring means “peak season”! The bees have a great variety of food sources out there and we are in Sunny South Florida. 

                                                                                        Transfer day ( Today or within 1 Week)

• Have your permanent hive ready  in the location it will remain, remove your cover and inner cover if applies and remove any frames if you have any inside the new hive box. An empty hive box will allow you to function better. Ideally your Nuc with Bees should be right next to this new hive. Make sure you calculate enough working space for yourself standing on the sides of your hive and or from behind your hive. NEVER STAND IN THE FRONT. It is important that you remember that the entrance of your hive is their walkway and if you stand their you are a target for incoming traffic! 
• DO NOT STAND AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE HIVE.
• Prepare your protective gear, smoker, smoker fuel/ wood pellets/ dried pine needles, hive tool, bee brush and/or any other supplies you want ready.
  Turn on your smoker, lightly smoke the entrance of your Nuc and then remove the cover, lightly smoke the top area of your exposed frames ( do not get to close with the smoker, you do not want to harm the bees with hot smoke).
• CAREFULLY remove ONE frame at a time from your Nuc to your new hive. THE QUEEN IS ON ONE OF THESE FRAMES, DO NOT KILL HER!
• DO NOT STAND AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE HIVE
• Once you have successfully transferred all 5 frames from your Nuc box into your new hive box, carefully center the five frames with bees in your hive box and now add the additional new frames on both sides of the frames with bees. 
• Once you new hive box is full with all of its frames you may place the cover in place and do not disturb your new hive for 2 weeks as they are acclimating to their new home.
• You may now pick up your empty Nuc Box, Nuc cover and Nuc bottom board and put these away in you garage or shed for future use of a swarm or split. Do not leave these items laying around your yard as these items smell of honey, brood, beeswax and your existing queen. 
• If your empty Nuc woodenware has bees, feel free to brush off or shake each piece towards the entrance of your new hive. They will follow their queen, give them time. If you are done we highly recommend that you start a log for beginner beekeepers to keep track of your progress when you do your hive inspections. These hive inspections are typically every TWO weeks unless you see it necessary to revisit sooner. Keep in mind that every time you open the hive you change the temperature and once you close it they are forced to work to once again get the temperature in the hive to what they need. 
• You do not “have to” feed the Nuc’s with Bees however if you wish to speed up the process while they are filling your brood chamber you may. 
• To register with the Florida Department of Apiculture you may register online www.freshfromflorida.com and then request for your inspection.