This is most likely to happen when you install a package of bees in a brand new, never-been-used hive. I’ve heard people say it’s the smell of new lumber they don’t like, or it’s the glue in plywood, or it’s the odor of paint. But it may just be that the bees are not in […] Read more
If you recall, I split my top-bar hive on Friday by shaking the frames over an empty box. Once done, I was clueless about where the queen had ended up. I looked through the frames of shook bees but found no sign of her. Within a few hours I noticed the top-bar hive was calm […] Read more
I am very organized, so I went into this job with complete confidence. It was simple. I wanted to replace the queen in my busiest hive. I couldn’t find her the first two times I searched, so I kept the replacement queen in a small nuc. But yesterday I found the old queen and plucked […] Read more
Many beekeepers believe that you must remove attendant bees from queen shipping cages before you introduce a caged queen into a hive. They believe the queen will more likely be killed by the receiving hive if both the attendants and the queen have a foreign odor. This simply is not true. If you install the […] Read more
When you receive a package of bees, the queen is in her own small cage attached to the inside of the package. Some beekeepers release her as soon as they install the package, and some wait for as much as a week before releasing her. What are the reasons for the difference? The packaging process […] Read more
For the hobby beekeeper who is managing a small number of hives, installing a package can be quick and easy. I’ve tried different methods and I like this one the best. The bees will soon leave the package and cluster around the queen cage, caring for her through the screen, and eating through the candy. […] Read more