Hiving Your Package of Honeybees – STEP by STEP! by April Lance
How exciting, you now have your own honeybees!
Be kind to your bees and unpack-age them early evening the day you get home.
Assemble your tools. Put on your jacket and veil. You probably won’t need to calm your bees with smoke, and it is best you don’t. But go ahead and prepare your smoker. Put on your gloves. Take a deep breath, relax and enjoy greeting your new bees. They will appreciate the wonderful, new home you are providing them!
- Be sure your hive is set up correctly with the screen bottom on top of your stand, the hive body on top of the screen bottom with l0 frames inside. Remove your hive top lid, inner cover and feed tray from your assembled hive box. Your hive should be placed in the permanent location you have chosen for your bees, in full sun, Fully LEVEL! and facing the rising sun. (remember you can only move your hive one foot per day or five miles). Also remove the four inner frames from your hive body, and set them to the side.
- Fill the feeder with sugar syrup (C and H sugar mixed 1:1 – not organic) and replace the cork floats. Set the feeder aside. Tip: You can lightly spritz some sugar syrup on the bees through the metal screen of the package box; the ones that get misted will be less likely to fly when you pour them into the hive body, but this step is not absolutely necessary.
- Set the package close to your open hive. Using your gloved hands and hive tool if necessary, turn the package gently upside down and remove the can of sugar syrup. Set the can of sugar syrup to the side. The bees have been eating sugar syrup from this can as they journeyed to their new home. Gently slide the metal tab you see on top of the box to the opening and lift your caged queen out of the box. Place one of the four frames you have set to the side on top of your package of bees, gently covering the opening of the box. Do not worry if some bees come out. They will stay close to the hive and eventually re-enter the hive, once the queen is in place. Continue on.
- Inspect the queen cage and make sure the queen is alive. You will see her moving around inside the cage. Do not set her down in the direct sun. If she is not alive (this is rare) contact me immediately and schedule a replacement. The queen may be alone in the cage or have an attendant or two. She is the largest bee in the cage. Isn’t she beautiful!
- Carefully remove the cork in the end of the queen cage with an ice pick, nail, tooth pick or pocket knife. Be especially especially careful not to impale or stab the queen. Get ready. Once the cork is removed, immediately slide your finger over the hole, so the queen does not escape. She does not sting, so do not worry. Gently insert the sugar cube you have been given. This will allow the bees to eat the sugar in the cube and gently and timely release the queen, usually over a two day period. You do not want to allow the queen to fly out, nor do you want to release the queen immediately into the hive. You want the bees to have time to settle and get accustom to their new home before the queen is released by the bees, usually three days. Set the queen aside for a moment. The best place to put the queen is in your pocket to keep her warm and out of harms way. Do not set her in direct sunlight. Your pocket is a good place for her!
- Pick up the package box and give it one good solid slam on the ground to knock all the bees to the bottom. Don’t be shy, you want them to lose their footing so they pour easily into the hive body.
- Pour the bees into the hive body where you have earlier created the hole or space by removing the four middle frames. Shake and tilt the package to pour out as many bees as you can. Then bang the package on the ground once again, and pour again. You may have to repeat this several times to get the majority of bees out of the package. As you pour the bees into the hive, some will fly out and some will stay in the package box. This is normal.
- Once you have removed almost all of the bees, place the package on the ground with any remaining bees. Be sure the hole is facing up towards the hive entrance, so the remaining bees can easily find their way up and into the hive. The pheromone smell of the other bees will lure them into the hive.
- You can place one of the four frames you have set aside over the hive body opening you have created while the bees settle for five minutes or so. Then, gently slide the side frames towards the center of the hive body. Work slowly and carefully so you don’t crush the bees. The frames will settle as the bees move up onto the frames and inside the box.
- Hang the queen cage between two of the frames that are closet to the center of the hive, being sure the worker bees have access to the screened sides of the queen cage. They will feed the queen through this screen during the two to three days it takes for them to eat the sugar out of the sugar cube releasing the queen. Use a rubber band, thumb tack, or bend the metal strap to secure the queen cage.
- Replace the other four frames in the outside spaces created as you gently move the frames towards the center.
- Replace the feeder filled with sugar water, mixed 1:1. (Note: Do not boil the water and sugar together, or you will make a bartenders mix of simple syrup. It is best to just stir the sugar and water until it mainly dissolves, using an instrument dedicated solely to your bees. Any old spoon might contain bacteria or oils, so buy a long handled spoon just for your bees, or use an entrance reducer that is new, clean wood for stirring).
- Replace the inner cover and the metal telescoping lid. Remember to pull the metal telescoping lid a little to the back so the screened vent at the rear of the inner cover is exposed. Insert the entrance reducer to protect your new colony of bees from robber bees.
- Be sure you have placed a continuous water source near your bees, but not too close, as they poop in the first 20 feet after leaving the hive. Bees need to be able to land on a nice, dry, sunny spot when getting a drink of water, so be sure to place a limb the size of your arm or float (flat food grade cork) in a large bucket so your bees can safely access their drinking water, fresh and available 24/7. They do not like splashy water fountains.
- Congratulations, you have successfully hived up your package of honeybees! You will be surprised how quickly they familiarize themselves with their new location and immediately go to work collecting pollen and nectar. You are now a beekeeper!
Please direct any questions to ApriLLanceBees@gmail.com
Thank you!
April