Installing a nucleus ("nuc") or package colony is only the beginning. What happens — or doesn't happen — during the first seven days determines whether the queen is accepted, whether comb gets drawn out for her to lay in, and whether the colony settles in calmly. This 3D cutaway of a Langstroth hive walks through that week: the queen cage and its candy plug, comb being drawn across the frames, and bees orienting and foraging from the entrance.
Most first-week problems trace back to impatience: opening the hive too often in the first 3–4 days can chill or roll brood, break the queen's acceptance cues, and cost the colony more time than it saves. A quick entrance check tells you far more than a full frame-by-frame inspection this early.
A 3D cutaway hive that steps through the first seven days after installing a nucleus or package colony, showing the queen's candy-plug release, comb being drawn across the frames, and forager activity building up outside.
Comb coverage, queen-cage release timing, forager numbers and colony stress all respond to the day, colony source (nuc vs package), feeding and whether you disturb the hive.
Drag the day slider through the week, switch between nuc and package, toggle the syrup feeder, and try opening the hive to see the disturbance spike the plan tells you to avoid.
A package colony has no comb at all on day one — every cell the queen will lay in during her first weeks has to be built by the workers from bare foundation.