You just installed a package of bees in a brand new hive, but the bees don’t seem settled. You check on them the next day and they are the same. Then on the third day, everything is quiet. No sounds come from the hive, and no big-eyed faces peer through the entrance. When you remove […] Read more
Spring weather is coming late in many areas and beekeepers are asking questions about installing package bees in cold weather. I’ve heard of beekeepers keeping their packages indoors, bringing hives into barns and garages, adding heaters, and wrapping hives in plastic. In truth, I don’t think the cold weather is detrimental to packages in most […] Read more
When I tally the comments and e-mails related to my last post, I find a variety of opinions on why multiple packages of bees might move into one hive. Many agreed with my husband that the packages could have come from the same hive and wanted to reunite. A few thought the colony that most […] Read more
Here’s a new take on package installation, new to me at least. If anyone has heard of this happening, I would sure like to know. Last week Nancy, of Shady Grove Farm in Kentucky, installed two packages of honey bees from an in-state supplier. The bees were placed in used deeps that had been cleaned […] Read more
Seattle beekeeper Tracey Byrne calls herself a “beepeeker,” a term that needs to go in the glossary. You may remember Tracey as the woman of many talents who also raises
Beekeeper Herb Lester sent in these photos showing how he goes about installing a new package of bees. I thought it might be helpful to see what this looks like if you’ve never done it before. Herb installs his packages the same way I do. Instead of shaking the bees out, he just sets the […] Read more
. . . is the beekeeper We like to think we know better than the bees about what is good for them, play scientist, and put all manner of elixirs and whatnot in the hives. We tend to root through the brood nests more often than needed because we feel the urge to do “something” […] Read more