There were surprisingly few dead bees on the bottom. I was pleased with that. I gave the package a good squirt of water on both sides, because water is something the bees can' t get from the package contents.
Remember that a package consists of about 10,000 bees, a queen in a queen cage, and a can of sugar syrup as food for the journey.
Later this afternoon I took the bees over to Sutton, along with the brand spankin' new hive parts I ordered a few months ago. It is nice to see such brand new equipment! It was already painted, so there wasn't anything for me to do.
I decided to make a video of the package installation. It's been a while since I've done a video, and I have a few friends who get a kick out of the videos. You can watch it at the end.
Here's a picture after I dumped the bees in, and replaced the frames. I didn't have my smoker (forgot it!) so I used the spray bottle with sugar syrup. It worked just as well - the bees were busy cleaning themselves of the sugar, and not aggressive at all.
When I was done with the installation, I added a couple jars of sugar syrup (plus the can they came with) to give them a jump start. There is also a pollen patty under the inner cover.
The installation went real well - no problems. After 5 years as a beekeeper, I hope I wouldn't have any package problems!!
And, without further fanfare, here is the video!
Such a nice post. Glad to find your post, to read it and watch the video. Keep sharing N Thanks a ton for sharing.
ReplyDeleteForgot the smoker! At least the spray worked. I might try that sometime. Hope all goes well with the new bees.
ReplyDelete