reinbeau
Moderator Extraordinaire
Yesterday was a horrible, drenching downpour, around 40 day - typical weather each year when we get our package bees! It's actually easier to install them on days like that, we wait until about 5 pm, set up the big patio umbrella over the hive and get to work. These packages were very full and healthy, not like last year, where some had almost two inches of dead bees in the bottom - they had been in the packages too long before they shipped them. These bees were shaken on Thursday, driven up from Georgia on Friday through the night until Saturday, and were out of the packages by late Saturday. This year we're using division board feeders until it warms up a bit, keeps the food right down near them, they won't cross the cold to go to a hive top feeder, and if they do, the syrup is so cold they don't like it, last spring we lost a package this way.
We did have to shake the bees, we don't usually do it that way, it just seems to violent, but they were so cool they pretty much just poured out. We set their syrup can (the one they were shipped with) over the hole in the inner cover and put an empty super on top. We'll take that off when it's empty and close it down in a couple of days.
It's good to have bees in the yard again! We had a hive survive at my mother's and one up in Maine, but they had all died over the winter here.
We did have to shake the bees, we don't usually do it that way, it just seems to violent, but they were so cool they pretty much just poured out. We set their syrup can (the one they were shipped with) over the hole in the inner cover and put an empty super on top. We'll take that off when it's empty and close it down in a couple of days.
It's good to have bees in the yard again! We had a hive survive at my mother's and one up in Maine, but they had all died over the winter here.
good luck with your new bees I hope they really do for you this year
