The big day has arrived; your bees
are ready for pickup! I was both nervous and excited when mine came. Something
I wish I’d had and will for this next group of bees is a sprayer bottle of
water. You know those plastic plant misters? It was hot the day mine came and I
picked up in my car. The girls rode in the trunk. I was worried about them over
heating and stopped often to cool them down. I was afraid some police officer
would see me on the side of the freeway fanning my open trunk frantically and
think something was amiss…. I think lightly spraying them may have helped. They
use their wings as fans and boy were they trying to cool down.
When you pick up your bees be sure
to get a container of Terramycin. American and/or European Foulbrood isn’t
something you want. Make sure you’re getting bees from a seller with a good
reputation. If they get American Foulbrood your bees and hives will most likely
need to be destroyed. I gave the girls two tablespoons shaken over them when I
first hived them. After that you treat spring and fall, follow the package
directions. Also pick up some pollen patties to feed them as this will give
them a good start.
Your hive should be set up already.
You’ll only need one deep super for now. The bees will build up and you want to
make them almost fill each super before adding another. Store your second deep
and the honey supers until later in the season.
When you arrive home with them place
the box near the hive unless it’s raining then put them out of the wind and
rain. Give them a spray of water and let them sit. They can stay in the box for
a day or two just be sure to spray with water off and on. The can hanging
inside is their food. This day or two of rest will give them time to become
acquainted with their queen. Each queen has her own pheromone scent and there
maybe some confusion during shipping as many boxes of bees will have been
shipped together thus mixing the pheromone scents.
You will need to feed them at first
until they have their house set up. 2 parts sugar to 1 part water. Bring your
water to a boil turn off heat and add sugar, stir until dissolved, cool completely.
This will be the food for them. Pour into canning jars or old mayo jars and
screw into the plastic feeder.
Now let’s get ready to hive your
bees hopefully on a sunny day with no wind. First, take a shower. Don’t use
scented soaps, perfume, cologne or deodorants. Take off any rings just in case
you get stung, don’t want to have your favorite ring cut off a swollen finger.
If you do get stung, scrape off the stinger never pull it out as there are
venom sacks and you’ll only add to the amount in the bite. Stay calm and smoke
around yourself quickly. There is a pheromone released by the bee when it
stings that signals others to follow and defend the hive; smoke and step away
for a minute.
Ok, the smoker is working nicely
with cool puffs of smoke and you’re showered and ready to don your official
outfit. Sprinkle some baby powder on your hands, according to the dummies book
the bees like it. I figure it helps for sweaty palms. Dress in your beekeeper
suit making sure to close any openings at ankles, neck and wrists. Take your
hive tool, sugar water sprayer and smoker with you; spray the girls with the
sugar/water mix. Don’t saturate them but give them enough to get them busy
cleaning each other. Pick up the box and give it a sharp rap or two on the
ground to force the bees to drop to the bottom. See the little wooden cage
inside the box of bees? This is your queen bee and her attendants. You want to
remove this box first. Locate the metal tab that hold this cage in place next
to the can.
Carefully pry the can of food up
while holding onto the metal tab
Take a really good look at your
queen; you’ll need to be able to locate her next week. If you managed to buy
one that’s marked it’s a lot easier to find her. .Once you replace the candy
plug fit the queen cage between the two middle frames. There is generally a
metal tab on her cage that you can bend over the top of one frame to help secure
it in place; if not then wedge between the two frames in the middle. Make sure
to angle the plug end up in case one of the attendants dies so its body doesn’t
block the queen’s escape route. Also, be sure the screened side is facing down
so the bees can bring her food. The bees will eat through the marshmallows to
free the queen. Once you’re sure you’ve got the queen secured, it’s time to let
the bees out and into their new home.
If they are very active inside the
box, spray them again and rap box to drop them to the bottom. Pry out the feed
can and set aside. Then shake and pour the bees over the queen’s cage. Some
will stay in the hive around the queen and others will fly around. Stay calm
and work slowly; it’s scary to be surrounded by this many bees but remember,
they are looking for the queen right now and have no honey to defend. You can
give puffs of smoke around to help calm them if needed. Once you have most of
the bees out of the box sit it at the entrance to the hive, opening facing up.
The remaining bees will smell the queen and move into the hive.
If they are very active you can
smoke them to calm them down just don’t over kill with the smoke. Shake two
tablespoons of the Terramycin over the bees and frame tops in the hive. Place
half a pollen patty on top of the frames; you don’t need to remove the paper.
Take the inner cover and starting at the back of the hive, slide it carefully
into place. This will allow the bees to move out of the way and you won’t
squish any. Place the telescoping cover on top of that.
Insert the plastic feeder with
filled food jar into the front of the hive at the entrance. I find with the
slope of my hive I have to shim the feeder to make it more level. If I don’t
then the food seems to flood out instead of dripping out slowly. The entrance
reducer will most likely not fit with the feeder in place. Stuff the entry with
grass or leaves to reduce the area leaving only about 2 inches of opening. This
will give the girls a smaller spot to defend from invaders. They will remove
this on their own as they feel more confident in their ability to defend their
new home. Once you see they’ve done this you can clean the remaining grass and
leaves out with your hive tool. You’ll use the entrance reducer later to help
combat stealing. In the morning you’ll be able to remove the box and return it
for the deposit.
Congratulation! You’ve hived your
first bees. Now leave them alone for the next week, no peeking. Just be sure to
keep the food jar filled and enjoy their gentle hum. Part three will go over
the types of bees in a hive, their jobs and your first inspection.
If you missed Part One - Go there Now! and catch up.
If you missed Part One - Go there Now! and catch up.
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