Readers have asked for instructions for installing their new packages of bees. So here goes…it’s going to be a long post, but worth it, I hope!

Installing packages is one of the easier beekeeping tasks. In my opinion, there are only a few essentials. First, get good packages. Second, give the bees as good a start as you possibly can. Finally, kill as few of them as possible when installing the packages. If you can do this, you’ll be off to a good start!

The best packages are ones that are delivered directly from the source. If possible, purchase your bees from someone who drives down south to pick up the packages and then returns with them as quickly as possible. Packages that are delivered quickly suffer little, if any, losses, while packages delivered through the mail system can have losses as high as twenty-five percent.

When you have your packages, make sure that the hives you will be putting them into are clean. Remove all blackened comb and dead bees if you are using an old hive. Scrape the bottom board. If possible, use a frame or two of honey and pollen from an existing hive to help the package get a good start. Start the package in a single deep and be sure to reduce the entrance until the package is established if there are existing hives in the area. If you do not do this robbing will be a problem. Fill an entrance feeder before you get started and keep feeding them as much as they will eat until the spring nectar flow begins.

Cleaning the bottom board

If you have more than one package, separate them by prying off the connecting pieces of wood with your hive tool.

Multiple packages ready for installation onto hives

Separating the packages

Place each package next to the hive in which it will be installed. Make sure the hive is completely ready, but remove the two center frames. Move the remaining frames outward as far as possible to give yourself plenty of space in which to work.

Package next to a hive

Using your hive tool (is there anything that tool can’t do?), pry off the small sheet of plywood that covers the top of the package. Keep it handy, since you will need it. At this point, the bees still cannot leave the cage. Beneath the cover is a can filled with syrup as well as a small metal disc that is connected to the queen cage. Gently lift the metal disc and remove the queen cage. As soon as it is out, the bees will be able to leave the package. To prevent this, place the plywood cover over the opening while you are working with the queen cage. Pry off the metal disc and discard.

Removing the queen cageOpening the cover

Check the queen cage. Make sure the queen is alive. If she is dead, install your package without her and then contact your supplier as soon as possible to get a replacement. They should be able to ship you a new queen quickly. (I have never had a dead queen, but it never hurts to check.) The queen cage has two small holes on either end. One hole is plugged by white candy, which can be seen in the photos above. The other end is plugged by a piece of cork. Some suppliers place a piece of cork in the side that has the candy. If this is the case, remove the cork so the bees can begin eating the candy, thus allowing the queen to leave her cage. Do not remove the cork on the other side.

The queen cage

Next, take a good frame that has been drawn out. Gently push the queen cage into the frame so that the candy side will be on top when the frame is placed in the hive. This prevents the opening from becoming blocked if any of the queen’s attendants die before the candy has been eaten away. This way, if they do die, they fall to the bottom of the queen cage and the queen can still exit through the hole, which is pointing upward. Make sure that the cage will not be directly beneath the hole in the inner cover.

Placing the queen cage on a frame

Replace the frames. Do not leave too large a space between them. If you do, the bees will build comb that you will just have to remove later.

Replace the frames with the queen cage

Replace the inner cover.

Replace the inner cover

The next step is probably the hardest of all, since it has to happen fairly quickly in order to kill as few bees as possible. You will be finished in about ten seconds if it is done well. First, pick up the package and GENTLY tap it on the ground. This will cause the bees to fall off of the top of the package. The purpose of this is not to “stun” the bees, as many people suggest. Instead, all you are trying to do is to make as many of them as possible lose their grip on the package.

Gently tap the package

Next, using your finger and the hive tool, pry up the can of syrup and remove it. Now there is a large hole in the top of the package. Cover it with the small piece of plywood. If it takes too long to remove the can, you may need to tap the package on the ground one more time. Remember: GENTLY!

Remove the can of syrup

With the bees on the bottom of the package, remove the plywood cover and turn the package over so it is directly above the hole in the inner cover. If you do this quickly, virtually no bees will be killed. If a few are caught between the package and the inner cover, do not try to save them. You’re almost done!

Place package on the hive

The bees will immediately smell the queen inside the hive. Since they want to be near her, they will move through the hole down into the hive on their own. In just a few minutes, the package will be nearly empty. Don’t worry if there are a few stragglers. They will find their way down eventually.

Nearly empty package

By dusk, virtually all of the bees should be in the hive. There may be one or two left, but don’t worry about them. There will likely be a dozen or so dead bees also. Again, you do not have to worry about them at all.

Empty package

When the bees have left the package, remove it and discard. Place the feeder can over the hole in the inner cover so the bees can finish off the syrup. Make sure that the holes in the can are pointing downward! If you have an extra empty super, place it on the inner cover and then put the outer cover over it. If you don’t have a spare and the weather is not too cold, you can leave the hive as it is until the can is empty.

Feeder can over the inner cover hole

In two or three days, check the hive to make sure the queen has been released. It is very uncommon to find her still in the package, but if you do, remove the cork from the other side of the queen cage and put her in the hive. When she is released, remove the queen cage and discard. You’re done!

Remember to keep the feeder jar full until the nectar flow begins and keep the opening reduced for a while to minimize robbing. In a week or so, check for eggs and larvae.

Presumably, cost is a factor but I don’t really know how ahead of the game I would be if I picked up a 5 frame nuc for let’s say $30.00 more than a 3 lb. package.  Is that a smart thing to do or wasteful?  What should I be taking into consideration.

I was also thinking about looking for “local” bees or at least Northern bred bees.  Again, I’m thinking they would be hardier for Winter and would not be stressed from the travel often associated with Southern bees.  I’d like to hear comments on this too.

Thanks to anyone for their opinions.

For more information on the grant, including the other grant recipients, see the announcement on the Department of Agriculture website.

Check out the site if you have a chance and watch this space for more information.  If you have any feedback about this project, be sure to letus know.

Now, the bad news.  While CCD is not a problem in Connecticut, the preexisting problems of parasitic mites, foulbrood, stress and exposure to pesticide use remain.  As any beekeeper who has lost colonies can attest, these problems can be formidable.

The report ends with the news that new research programs about CCD as well as the other problems that plague beekeepers are now under way in Connecticut.  This is a positive development.  Hopefully, it will yield results that will ensure that the health of the honeybee population in the state does not decline even further.  Maybe it will even result in research that improves the conditions for beekeeping in our state.

M00390 JUNIOR BENCH EXTRACTOR

Junior Bench Extractor. Stainless steel hand powered. Capacity: 2 frames (9 1/8″ deep maximum) per load. SS extracting basket and SS top assembly. Piano style continuously hinged lid. Easily converts to 175-lb, storage container. (Frames must be removed and turned to extract both sides). 1½” plastic honey gate included. Tank: 304 SS, 14″ dia. x 23¼” tall, all MIG welded construction.

The extractor sells for $269.69 on Dadant’s web site. I also have the stand for this extractor. It sells for $56.99. Retail price for both would be 326.98 plus tax and an additional shipping charge from Dadant which would make the purchase price around $400.00.

I have both units, brand new and in the original boxes. And am looking to sell for $275.00. Great deal!

UPDATE - THE EXTRACTOR HAS BEEN SOLD. Thank you.

EDITOR’S NOTE:

The item above is offered by a beeblog user. The user has no affiliation with the beeblog, ct-honey.com or Stonewall Apiary.  While we encourage users to use the beeblog for virtually any beekeeping-related activity, Stonewall Apiary assumes no responsibility for either side of any transaction that may result from the above ad.

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If the swarm is accessible, use a swarm catcher (or even a large, clean bucket).  Put the basket of the swarm catcher around the swarm, then shake the branch it is hanging from so that the swarm falls into it.  As quickly as possible, place a wet towel over the top of the basket to prevent the swarm from escaping.

 Next, prepare a hive for the swarm.  Give them a few frames of drawn out comb along with a frame or two of honey and pollen.  If possible, give them a frame with eggs as well.  Be sure that none of these frames have bees from a different hive on them.  Place a queen between the bottom board and the brood chamber you have prepared, then put an empty brood chamber on top.

With a second queen excluder ready, dump the swarm (as gently as possible) into the upper brood chamber, then place the queen excluder on top, followed by the inner and outer covers.

If the queen is in the hive, she cannot get out, since she is prevented from doing so by the queen excluder above and below her.  The rest of the swarm will eventually find her and follow her into the hive.  If she isn’t in the hive, she will soon return to the original swarm location.  The rest of the swarm will find her and re-form around her.  Either way, it doesn’t become apparent for several minutes. In the moments after capturing a swarm and placing it in the new hive, the bees that were not captured will be flying everywhere.  It is difficult to tell whether the queen has been captured or not.  

How can you know right away? 

Here’s how I do it: my preferred swarm catcher is made up of two sets of mesh.  (Actually, it’s not mine.  My friend Glenn made it, and it’s the best swarm catcher ever.)  The inner mesh is half-inch galvanizedhardware cloth; it maintains the shape of the basket.  The outer mesh is made of standard metal screen; it prevents the bees from escaping.

Even though it’s the best swarm catcher in the world, it has one tiny drawback: some of the bees get trapped between the two meshes.  This isn’t really much of a problem.  It only takes a few minutes for the bees to get out on their own after most of the swarm has been dumped into the new hive.  Lately, I’ve been taking advantage of this by tapping the basket on the ground in front of the hive.  The few hundred remaining bees fall out on the ground in a pile.  If the queen is indeed in the hive (and she nearly ALWAYS is), these bees will instantly turn toward the hive and start walking toward it.  If they don’t do this and instead take to the air, the queen is not in the hive.

It’s that easy.

In Part 2 of this post, I have a video of this process.  The video shows the pile of bees immediately after they have been dumped on the ground.  They quickly point themselves toward the hive and begin walking to it.

Because of bandwidth concerns, the video in Part 2 is password-protected and is only available to registered users.  New users: email me and I’ll send you the password.  Be sure to include your user name.

Occasionally, however, I find a queen cell in an extremely vigorous, healthy hive that produces well and has survived multiple winters.  In these cases, I like to put the frame with the queen cell in a nuc to allow her to hatch, thus propagating a line that thrives in Eastern Connecticut.  It’s not exactly a scientific process, but it seems to work well for me.  Also, it’s an inexpensive way to increase the bee yard.

During the last week of May, I started three 3-frame nucs with queen cells.  Each nuc contained a frame with a queen cell, a full frame of eggs and a full frame of honey and pollen.  Each frame was covered with bees.

The nucs were quiet for a few days, with little or no activity.  On Saturday, June 2nd, one of the nucs became extremely active.  Bees streamed out of the nuc, flying off and and hovering in front of the entrance.  After a few minutes of this, the queen emerged.  She walked around the entrance for about two minutes then took to the air, hovering a few inches in front of the nuc.  I was afraid that this was the beginning of a swarm, but she landed a few seconds later and returned to the hive.  In a matter of seconds the bees outside of the nuc followed her inside and everything was quiet.  It was as if nothing had even happened.

I have never seen this before and was fortunate to have my camera with me.  I was able to get a few shots of the new queen, shown below.

Here, the queen’s abdomen is visible in the lower right corner of the photo.  Her head is blocked by a worker.

A queen emerging from the nuc, all photos ;© Stonewall Apiary, LLC

The queen is facing away from the camera in the lower left portion of the photo below.

A queen emerging from the nuc, all photos and text © Stonewall Apiary, LLC

Finally, the best shot.  The queen is in the lower left part of the photo below.  She is preparing to take flight, so her wings are beating quickly and appear only as a blur above her.

A queen emerging from the nuc, all photos and text © Stonewall Apiary, LLC