A guy gave me a nuc at the later part of the season last year. It was started too late in the year and ended up hopping on the Jesus train this winter. The nuc is still outside and we went out today and I saw 30-40 bees "visiting" it. I am hoping that a swarm will take up residence this spring sometime. This is the first time I have got to be around bees without protection. Anyway, as they were robbing out the leftover honey we thought we would see if we could hold them without getting stung. I know robbing is not something one would want to encourage but there wasn't that much left in the nuc and I know that it is common to set out "wet" frames or extractors and let the bees clean them up. So I felt it was ok.
I was able to hold a frame and watch them work around on the frame, all w/out gloves or veil. The following is a couple of pics of me and my wife letting them eat some of the honey off our fingers. She through me for a loop when she said she didn't care to do it.They were surprisingly gentle.
This is what the entrance looked like with the bees hurrying in.
This was so much fun being able to have the bees near by and watching them do there thing. I can see why some say its therapeutic to watch b/c I was able to sit and watch them for a couple hours. I can't wait to have some permanently.
