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Sometimes we are able to catch swarms and sometimes we order our bees. When we order them, this is how they will arrive.
This is a 3lb. package of bees.
A can of sugar water is provided in the package so the bees will have food while they are enroute.
Next to the can of sugar water is a small cage that includes the queen and 2-3 of her attendants.
The queen's cage is, carefully, removed.
Once the cage is removed, it's time to check on the queen and make sure she is alive.
The queen and her attendants are fine. There is a plug of "candy" at one end of her cage. Her attendants are eating
away at that candy. Once this cage is hung in the brood chamber the worker bees will begin to eat away at the candy from
the outside of the cage. In a couple of days the bees will have eaten through the candy and the queen will be free. She
has been in the brood chamber, with the other bees, long enough for them to accept her as their queen. Had she been put
directly into the brood chamber, without first, slowly, introducing her to the bees, they would probably kill her.
The can of sugar water is removed. A few of the bees have escaped, but, will find their way to the others, once the bees
have been placed into the brood chamber.
The brood chambers are ready for the bees. A few of the frames have been removed so there is room to "dump"
the bees into the chamber.
There is, also, a sugar water mixture on the front of each of the brood chambers. The bees will need to be fed for quite
a while in order for them to make enough honey to survive their first winter.
The queen's cage is hung between two frames so that the workers will free her.
The bees are added to the brood chamber. A couple of very hard shakes will dump most of them in.
The majority of the bees fell in a clump with the first shake. After the second shake, there are only a few left in the
package. After this, the package is placed near the brood chamber and the stray bees will find their way to the others.
After the bees have been added to the brood chamber, the inner cover and then the outer cover is put back on.
Two down, two to go
We'll feed the bees, usually, twice a day throughout the summer. This should help them get through their first winter
and by the following spring, they will be an established hive and strong enough to no longer need our help.
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