2019-04-20: Hiving two packages of bees.

I had a couple of years with no bees.  First, I did not find out that they had died over the winter a couple of years ago until it was too late to order new bees.  Then, it sort of slipped my mind last spring.

So, this year, I ordered two packages from my usual supplier, Nature's Nectar.  I had one package each of Carniolan Honeybees and Italian Honeybees.  I did not really care which bees I got, but I usually do not get two of the same subspecies.

This was the first year that my packages were plastic.  I like the old wood and metal screen ones better, since I can see the bees easier.  I also would learn that it was easier to spray the bees with sugar water through the metal screen compared to the plastic packaging.

It was about a two-hour drive home, but the weather was mild; the bees probably did not get too hot.

I picked up the bees at 0915, but they suggest that you do not hive them until the evening.  So, they sat in the cool garage for most of the day.  I sprayed them with sugar water once to feed, calm, and cool them.

Finally, 1800 arrived, and we were ready to hive the bees.

I have the two packages of bees, and I'm wearing my bee suit.  If you watch other people's videos, they often don't wear a bee suit.  The reason is that the bees do not have a hive to protect, so they tend to be more docile.

Here I am with my helper, Vaughn.  I'm having some difficulty uploading the videos, so I'll outline the steps that we did:

1. The syrup-soaked bees will be "poured" into the center of the bottom (and--at this time--only) hive body, so we removed the center four or so frames.
2. Plug the entrance with the entrance reducer on the smallest setting and block that temporarily with a wad of prairie grass.
3. Soak the bees well with syrup from the spray bottle.
4. Use the hive tools to pry the metal can from the package.  (This is the syrup the bees ate during their trip from CA to MN and then from Stillwater to me.)
5. Once the can is out, spray the bees some more.
6. Remove the queen's cage (she is transported separately) and set it aside.
7. Knock the bees to the bottom of their package by striking the package against the ground.
8. Pour the syrup-soaked bees into the hive.
9. Leave the mostly-empty package near the entrance so the bees can eventually get into there (the bees will probably push the grass out of the hole over the evening).
10. Take the wood cork out of the queen's cage, and replace it with a mini-marshmallow.
11. Put a pollen patty on the top of the frames for the bees to eat until they can bring in a good supply of pollen from plants.
12. Put on the inner cover (the board with an oblong hole in it).
13. Put the feeder pail over that hole so that the bees can feed from that until they are able to bring in nectar from flowers.
14. Put an empty hive body over the pail.
15. Put the outer cover over the empty hive body.

The next step, which we will probably do tomorrow, is to check the queen's cage.  Ideally, the marshmallow will have been eaten by the bees so that the queen can exit the cage and start laying eggs.

New bee arrival date; hives ready.

The bees now arrive on April 18, 2015.  The distribution center is Nature's Nectar in Stillwater.  Pick-up day is very busy, and Nature's Nectar used to have certain times that you could arrive--depending on your last name.  If you are far enough away (as I am), I think you can show up whenever you are able.

The hives for spring 2015:  Langstroth (Hive A), a Kenyan top-bar hive (Beta), and another Langstroth (Hive B)

The hives are ready to go.  I had to (or decided to) throw away many frames after my bees died during the winter of '13 - '14.  I believe that they just died from a cold snap and not from any diseases.  There was some rotting of the bees and many of the frames were, I though, no longer useful.

So, I'll need to order about 100+ frames, I think.  Both A1 and B1 need new frames.  Also, as I might show you in an upcoming post, I think that Beta is going to also use those frames.

I have some pollen patties from the first season that I had the bees, 2013.  They've been in the refrigerator since then.  They may still be good, but I don't know how to determine that, frankly...

I'm also struggling with how I'll feed syrup to the bees in Beta.  I may have to use an external feeder and just hope that A1 and B1 leave that syrup alone once they find their own syrup in their hives.

Bees not taking sugar syrup.

During inspection #1 and inspection #2 (at, roughly, one week and two week timepoints), neither Hive A nor Hive B had taken much 1:1 sugar syrup.  At most, only about 1/4 gallon of the bucket was gone.  For comparison, I know of other beekeepers who are seeing a full gallon be used in a matter of days.  The good news is that the bees in each hive still seem to be drawing out comb and storing nectar.  There were even several dozen cells of capped honey that I could see during inspection #2.

A podcast that I have been enjoying lately described this issue well...  It seems as if the bees have a dance for "There are flowers 1/2 mile southeast of us."  However, they lack a dance for "There is a huge bucket of pure sugar water right above our heads."  (This makes sense, evolutionarily speaking.)  So, apparently, any bee that finds the feeder pail of syrup is unable to tell the other bees.  They have to find it on their own.

I'll continue to bring out syrup each week or so.  Each time I check the hive, I half expect the pail to be empty.  As soon as I bring out a new pail that is only 1/2-full, to save on sugar costs, that will be the week that they all find the pail and drain it in a day or two.

Evidence that both queens are alive and well!

First inspection of Hive A and Hive B, Sunday, 5/12/13:
This was day 7 for the hives, with the packages having been installed Saturday the 4th.  If you've read some previous posts, you might know that I was a bit worried about what we'd find (or fail to find) under the covers of the hives.  I mixed up new syrup, bagged a new pollen patty, got the smoker full of fuel, and headed out to the hive.  My videographer was in tow, grumbling only slightly and--thankfully--with minimal profanity.

It was 55 degrees and a bit windy.  But, the hives have windbreaks to their north and west.  So, by the hives, it was still and pleasant.  It was a cloudless day, and we started the hive inspections at about 1500.

The smoker was going nicely.  I filled it to the brim with animal bedding from Pet Expo.  It put out ample smoke for a good 1/2 hour at least.  One of my onlookers brought out extra bedding, but we ended up not needing it.

The video of the hive inspections can be found on YouTube by following this link.

We puffed smoke into the entrance, and the bees at the entrance retreated into the hive almost immediately.  Some flew off.  Opening the top, I could see that the queen cage that I left up top was empty of any bees.  I took it and threw it to my onlookers and well-wishers.  I was surprised at how full the feeder pail was yet on the hive.  I wondered whether they took any syrup at all.  When I opened and emptied the feeder pails back at the house, it looked as if each hive had taken only 1/4 gallon or less.  After getting the pails back home, I realized that I should have marked the pails so that I knew which hive had which pail.  This would let me know which hive ate more or less.

In any event, I took off the old pail.  I opened the inner cover.  It was not "glued" down at all on either hive.  The pollen patty was clearly smaller and even eaten into two pieces.  Where the patty had stretched across the gap between frames 5 and 6, it was eaten completely through.  I removed them and inspected them.  They looked good still, so I decided to use them again after I did the inspection (rather than put on the new ones that I had brought out).

Under the inner cover, I could see many bees.  Perhaps 2 - 3 frames were pretty full of bees.  This was somewhat of a relief; they hadn't absconded, at least.  I started looking at frames.  I didn't see eggs or any other signs of the queen in Hive A...  Until I actually saw the queen!  There was no mistaking her; she was much darker than the other bees with her abdomen visibly longer and extending well past her wings.

Once I saw her, I put the hive back together.  There was some comb that they were building out past the edge of one of the frames, but I didn't want to push my luck by bothering with it during this trip.  I closed Hive A with the pollen patty replaced, new syrup, and the queen healthy-appearing.  I was much happier about the state of things for that hive.

Hive B's inspection was similar.  The queen cage was empty; I passed it off to a spectator.  Bucket was still pretty full, but I intended on replacing the syrup either way.  I didn't want it to ferment.  Pollen patty chewed up quite a bit.  I began inspecting the frames.  On the second frame I removed (if memory serves me), I saw young larvae.  They were white, glistening, and wet-appearing.  It was a small "C"-shaped maggot, basically, that was curled up at the bottom of the hexagonal cell.  That was good enough for me.  I closed it up and ended the inspections.

This was my first "real" inspection of the hives, removing frames, replacing feed, etc.  It seemed to have gone very well, and I was pretty excited about things afterward.

Now, I will probably give them another week.  When I saw how little syrup they used, I decided to fill each bucket only half full next time (1/2 gallon per 1 gallon pail).  I've also labelled the pails.  I'll have to refresh my mind with the egg/larva/pupa timetable, but I think that I might be able to find capped brood next weekend.

Along with new syrup in the half-filled feeder pails, I'll likely have to bring out new pollen patties.  I plan on cutting one pollen patty in half and putting 1/2 on each hive.  They had only eaten about 1/4 - 1/3 of the full patty in one week, so a 1/2 patty should last them a week.  Also, as flowers appear, they can start to get their own pollen from natural sources.