My Bee Journey: New nuc, continued

Naturally, I figured there was more to do that Tuesday night. I had put the big box on top of the nuc, on top of the new hive. I thought that the bees might drop off onto the ground when trying to crawl out of the box. So I cut a piece of cardboard and stuck one edge of it under the nuc, thereby creating a porch about six inches deep. It is shown in a picture below.

Clump of bees under hive

Improvised cardboard porch

I was out early Wednesday to check things out. The big box was empty. However, there was a somewhat large cluster of bees on the ground under the hive. It was still cold, so no one was flying about. I got a dust pan and the bee brush and swept them up, dumping them, dirt and ground cover onto the cardboard porch.

There were cold, immobile bees all around the deck (and probably on the lawn and paths, too). I collected a few and carried them to the nuc. It was getting warm and some flew off, to where I don't know. Then I left everyone alone.
Over the next two days I watched them go about their business, flying in and out of the nuc, bringing back pollen and nectar. Nico from next door stopped by to take a look.
This afternoon I figured they had had enough time to orient, so I decided to put them into their new home. Besides, I didn't want to wait until tomorrow.
This time I thought out the maneuver in advance. There had to be a place to put the nuc, so I put the old hive stand in front of the hive. I figured I would lift the nuc and the hive lid together so I wouldn't need to worry about the hole in the bottom. Jeremy had warned against just lifting the frames out, so I planned to cut away the side with a box cutter. Check to make sure all the zippers on my bee suit are zipped, smoker is smoking and... action.

Nuc with side pulled away

I gave the bees a whiff of smoke at the entrance and under the top and the lifted the hive lid and nuc onto the old bee stand. So far, so good. I cut the flaps on the side of the nuc and pulled it away, exposing the frames. Then I realized I had forgotten to bring down the five new frames needed to fill the hive box, so I had to run up to the garage to fetch them. (So much for my thorough planning!)

Nuc frames in brood box

I used my hive tool to pull apart the frames one-by-one and inspected them while holding them over the hive box (in case the queen were on that frame and fell off). I didn't spot the queen, but there were capped brood and larvae. I didn't look hard for, nor see any eggs. After the five frames from the nuc were in the brood box, I shook some bees that were still in the nuc into the hive. I wasn't going to upset them by brushing them out of the nuc. I then put in the new frames making ten altogether.
When I tried to put the on the Vivaldi lid, it wouldn't fit because of burr and brace comb on top of the frames, so I had to scrape them clean with the hive tool. I put the scrapings in the nuc top, which also had comb on it, to save for later. I want to try processing the wax.

Nuc box with whole in bottom

With the hive closed up, I turned my attention to the remains of the nuc. It still had a lot of bees in it. So I pulled the nuc box more open and set it and the top on the old hive stand.

I noted that the bees weren't flying across the gap between the stand and the hive, so I retrieved my old ramp and set it into place. The bees immediately starting running up the ramp into the hive.
I observed the returning foragers buzzing in the space above the new hive where there old home had been.
Now, about 1-1/2 hours later, there are no more bees in the nuc box or lid and there is a cloud of bees in front of the new hive doing what looks like orientation flights.
A successful transplant, I believe. And no stings.