New nuc is here

A couple of days ago, I set the new hive into place.
Yesterday, I drove down to San Luis Obispo to pick up my nuc from Jeremy Rose.  337.7 miles, round-trip, on the odometer.

We met at a pull off and from there I followed him up See Canyon Road to his bee farm.  He has bees in different places, including Watsonville, his hometown.  This one is on someone's property that he is allowed to use in exchange for honey. I parked on the road and rode with him across the field to the hives.
He told me that the initial nuc he had picked for me had mites, so he had selected another.  He makes the nuc by taking frames of brood, as well as pollen and honey, from a strong hive and putting it in the box.  He also raises queen cells in a strong hive and puts one into the nuc and any queen cells that may already be there.  I didn't ask for details about how to raise queens and queen cells, but he recalls he learned his technique from a book by Tom Seeley!  Small world.  He did point out the hive from which my nuc and queen were obtained.

The nuc appeared weather beaten.  He took the top off to make sure there was a queen present.  The box was packed with comb and bees.  Jeremy didn't want to pull any frames because doing so could kill some bees as well as upsetting them.  He peered in and I believe saw brood frame.  He figured there was a queen in there, mainly, I think, based on the girls behavior.  He put a clump of mustard grass leaves in the opening to keep the bees inside.
When he picked up the nuc, there was a large hole in the bottom!  This didn't phase Jeremy, but it did disturb me.  He set the nuc in the bed of the truck and we got in to drive back to where I had parked. Then Jeremy couldn't find his keys.  We looked in the truck, the truck bed and all around in the tall grass.  Finally, after about 15 minutes, he found them between the seats where he had first looked.
At my car, first he said, just put the nuc on something flat in the trunk.  I was in the Prius, which, we all know, doesn't have a trunk.  Then I suggested putting it inside another box.  I happened to be carrying a large box in the car in order to capture a swarm when I come across one.  So we put the nuc inside the box. (Later events made it painfully obvious that this was a very bad plan.  In retrospect, I should have simply cut a piece of cardboard off of my box and duct taped it to the bottom of the nuc.)  It was a tight fit and the lid was lifted off but we got it back on.  Jeremy was concerned about air flow, so he put a small piece of wood under the nuc to hold it off the bottom of the box.  The lid was held loosely shut with duct tape and off I went back to Aptos.
On the trip back about a half-dozen bees. altogether, would fly out of the box and buzz around the back windshield. Jeremy had assured me that they would stay in the back, and one of them flew into the front of the car. Nevertheless, I was a bit nervous about them, so I would occasionally stop and open the hatch to let them out.
It was dark when I got back home at about 8:30.  Jeremy said to put the nuc where the new hive would be take out the leaf plug.  Give the bees 2-3 days to let them orient, and then on a calm, warm day, put the frames into the the new hive.  I figured I'd just put the nuc on top of the new hive.
I thought the bees might be a bit upset, so I slipped on my bee suit.  I must have been discombobulated after all that time driving because I neglected to zip shut the legs. I tried to wear my headlamp inside the suit, but it kept getting knocked down.  (I didn't think to try it over the suit.)  Mickey was over and he agreed to hold a flashlight for me.
I carried the box back, set it on the ground and  opened the lid.  There were bees everywhere!  Hundred, if not thousands, had left the nuc and were in large clusters all around the box.  I had to go back to get my gloves.  With some difficulty, I lifted the nuc out and put it on top of the new hive.  Now I had bees crawling all over my arms.  Being pessimistic, I feared that the queen may have left the nuc and be in one of the clusters.  I figured I would brush the bees into the nuc.
Now this was all being done in the dark with an ever increasingly nervous Mickey holding the light.  He slowly was moving further away.  I would need to take the flashlight now and then to be able to see into the big box.  Understandably, Mickey eventually had enough and retreated to the deck.  
I took the top off the nuc and awkwardly shook and brushed bees out of the box.  Then I felt a bee crawling up my leg.  That was when I realized I had neglected to zip the legs and there were many bees crawling around on the ground.  (Laura has been there before.)

I had bees all over my bee suit, crawling up my legs and chest, and I'm in the dark trying to get the bees out of the big box and into the nuc.  Then, suddenly, there's one inside by hood.  Panic!  I was able to squish it in the face netting.  I did get stung three times, one on my chest, one on my arm and one on my back.  Time to stop.  A few more brushes, I put the box on top of the nuc so the remaining bees would be able to crawl into the nuc and away from the apiary.  Then, before I could remove my bee suit, I had to brush off all the bees.  I was able to get them off my arms, torso and legs, but  I kept hearing buzzing from by back area.  I asked Mickey where the bee was and he excitedly told me I had bees all over my back.  So Maidi used the bee brush to get them off.  I kept moving from place to place on the deck so the newly dislodged bees would not crawl up my legs.
Finally, I was bee free and able to take off the suit.  (I found two more inside the suit today.)  Into the house we went, but it wasn't over yet;  there were three bees buzzing around the light.  They must have come in on one of us.  We were able to corral them and put them outside.
Whew, what a swim!
(To be continued.)