My 2 young girls (7 and 5) got really into bees after watching that documentary on netflix. Since they both seemed so interested I thought, what the heck, let get some bees. I will be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I have read books, watched videos, and asked people so many questions. But I have a few more thay Id love some help with.
I get my nuc on may 16th. When I purchased my hive (2 deeps and 2 medium supers) I also bought a top feeder from mann lake. Do I feed 1:1 sugar water right away? I have seen mixed comments about feeding a nuc right away.
After installing the nuc, do I use the small hole in the entrance reducer? And if so, for how long?
The state of ND offers free varroa inspection, usually done in August, am I ok to wait for them to do that or should I inspect earlier?
Im super concerned about wintering. Im located in north dakota where it's incredible cold and incredibly windy. My plan was to try the news paper and sugar trick on top of the frames, and then use an empty super to put foam insulation on top. And then possibly add some thinner insulation around the edge and make sure the hive is slightly tipped forward. Does that sound reasonable?
I have a ton of other questions but this already got long so I'll start with these. Thanks a ton for any insight you can provide.