How many bees are in a 5 frame bee nucs?
The number of bees in a beehive varies according to the time of year.
At the lowest point of the year, there are about 15,000 bees per hive with a queen. The lowest number of bees corresponds to the winter solstice, around December 21.
How many bees are in a package?
At the highest point of the year, there are about 60 to 80,000 bees per beehive with a queen and a few thousand drones. The most significant number of bees corresponds to the summer solstice, around June 21. The most beautiful colonies can reach 100,000 bees!
Drones are present during the breeding season to fertilize young virgin queens from other hives. In California, you have drones in the colonies from early March to late September.
Bees can be sold in package, bee nucs or beehives.
For packages, you can buy 2, 3, or 4 pounds of bees in a cage. Knowing that one bee weighs 0.1 gram (10,000 bees per kilo), for 3 pounds, there are around 10,000 bees.
For bee nucs and beehives, we are not talking about the number of bees but the number of frames and especially the number of brood frames.
For a nuc, you usually have:
- 3 brood frames in various stages
- 1 reserve frame (honey and pollen)
- 1 frame under construction
Of course, in your bee nuc, you have a queen with about 20,000 bees on the frames.
Bees in-season live 45 days!
The essential thing in bee nucs is the brood. The brood represents the dynamics of the colony. The brood represents future bees.
Knowing that for 1 brood frame, once the bees are born, the bees occupy 3 frames.
So when all the brood of your bee nuc will be born, your beehive will be filled with bees!
It will be time to put news boxes (super) to increases the place for future harvest the nectar.