done packages, only splits. So we both decided we
needed to remedy that flaw in our experience. I'll
try to get some pictures of this from her about
her experiences and will take some when I try it
too...stay tuned for our results.
Have I got a story to tell ya'll. Picked up the two 3-lb
packages with queens and brought them home. Very nice
instructions came from Kerry's, and I had a lovely magazine
page complete with pictures. Sure looked simple...
Well, we had company come into town so my husband was in
entertainment mode that evening when I went over to the
bee yard (alone except for my magazine and instructions) to
install my packages in their hives. Piece of cake.
Well, first you lightly spray the bees with sugar syrup, which
I did. Then you pry the wooden cover off the top of the
package. Sure enough, there is the feeder can lid, only
problem is it is below the surface of the box. Hmmmmm.....
Well, there is a little white strap stapled to the top of the
box too (you oldtimers probably know where I am going and
ya'll are laughing already). Well, maybe it is there for me to
pull the can out with? So I unfasten the little white strap
and gently pull on it - the top of the can comes up just
enough to get my hive tool under but no farther. Now I
have a dilemma - I need another hand to grab the can. OK,
I let go of the little white strap to grab the can and that
strap went zwoop! down into the box. Oh oh, this does not
look good, don't know what I just lost, but it can't be
good...
So I gently lift the can out of the box ( there are bees
hanging on to the bottom for dear life) and look down in
the box. The little white strap is hooked to a little box
that I know now holds my queen. So I reach down into the
box and rescue her, gently (nice word, gently) brushing most
of the bees off so I can see which end the candy is on. I
tap the bees off the can back into the box and set the can
down, then take my queen cage and install it into the hive.
Whew!
Now the instructions say to take the box and gently pour
(????) a small handful of bees onto the frame tops over the
queen cage. So I lift the box and ease it over....and half
the bees in the box fall into the hive body. There are bees
everywhere, including the bottom of the hive where I am
supposed to set the box so the bees can climb out.
The sun is nearly down and I am looking rather wildly
around the apiary for a solution. I think my other hives are
all out on their front porches now, laughing wildly at the
show. Aha! I realize I have in my bee-gear box several of
the little strips of wood we use for hive ventilation! So I
take two of them and (gently!) lay them in the bottom of the
hive, moving bees out of the way to do so. Now I can set
the box on them, thereby avoiding squashing all my new
bees before we even get started.
Finally the hive is back together - the second one goes
much more smoothly, now that I have a clue! I return home
and of course everyone wants to know how it went. One
should always end the day with a good laugh, right? Well,
hopefully someone else will learn from my experience.
Everyone should do at least one package of bees in their
beekeeping career, just for the experience!
More to come later,
WebWitch
