Over the last month we’ve installed a couple dozen packages of bees into their hives. I’ve been taking lots of questions from newbees (and I love it!). Here are some of the common concerns:
What’s that white stuff in the package?
Depending upon how long those bees have been caged and their ambition, it is common to find them already building honeycomb, as shown in the photo. Yes, you could try and attach it to a frame to save their work, but that might be challenging and damaging. It is cool to share with others and a great start for future beeswax candles. I’d probably not try to incorporate it into their hive.
One newbee asked me how the bees got all that wax when they were still trapped in the cage.
Um…they don’t fly out to the wax store and get it when they’re out of the cage. I gently explained that they make wax.
Where’s the candy in the queen cage?!
A queen cage has an opening drilled in one end. Often there’s candy blocking the opening, and a cork outside of the candy. When you remove the cork, it allows the worker bees to eat their way toward the queen to free her, and allegedly grow to adore her in the process.
Some newbees, and myself, obtained some packages that did not have the candy, by design. That meant as soon as the cork was pulled the queen was free to take off.
Some folks recommend you have a bit of marshmallow ready to stick in there to keep her from escaping and to ensure a gradual introduction. Others say releasing her immediately is fine, just be sure that when you’re removing the cork that you do it with the cage in the hive so she isn’t tempted to fly off. (Had that happen to me once. Replacement queens overnighted are pricey.)
What should I be looking for after a week or so?
You don’t need to find the queen, but you do need to find evidence of a laying queen (EoQ).
There are a couple different signs of this. If she just started laying, you should be able to find white “grains of rice” about 1/6 the size of a grain of rice at the bottom of any drawn comb that has lots of bees attending to it. It’s tough to see for older eyes or in poor lighting conditions. After a week or two, you should see more advanced signs, like larva or capped brood.
If you see any of those, you’ve got a laying queen! Finding the queen is cool, but sometimes challenging. You don’t need to find the queen if you find EoQ.
If you have capped brood, note its appearance. It should be predominantly flat. (Google drone brood, worker brood to see examples.) If all the brood is this uneven, bumpy stuff, then it is drone brood, signifying that the queen wasn’t properly mated–problem. Contact your supplier.
Some queens are slow to get acclimated and may not start laying for a week or more. But, if no EoQ by about two weeks, I’d contact your supplier and discuss options.
Other items:
- Stings: I can verify that this year’s bees sting just as fiercely as previous years’. We track stings in our apiary to see who “wins” by the end of the season. Marshall and I are tied with three each. They say you’re not a real beekeeper ‘til you’ve been stung. That’s not true, but celebrating that takes your mind off the *&#*@!
Your behavior. Yes, it is perfectly normal to sit in front of your hive and watch them every day. A couple times a day. For long amounts of the day. It’s called bee disease, a wonderful thing! Remember not to stand in front of the hive. They find that disruptive. - Their behavior. Disparity is also normal. We have packages from the same supplier, installed the same time at the same location. At two weeks, one of them has drawn out five frames. Most of them have drawn out most of just a couple of frames. Some of our colonies are consuming over a quart of sugar syrup a day; others haven’t touched it. That’s how bees have fun—keeping us guessing!
- Feeders/feeding: Spring has sprung in the Midwest, finally. I’m leaving feeders on as long as they’re still taking it, or unless the syrup gets awfully moldy and/or full of ants. I have a commercial beekeeper friend who says bees aren’t bothered by slime/mold in the feeder. Usually about the time that occurs they’re more interested in the natural groceries available outside the hive anyway, so I take feeders off as long as the world is still blooming and sunny—if the bees aren’t taking syrup anyway. The recent heat slimed up most of them, but because it is cooling back down here in SW Michigan, I’m leaving them on.
Coming within a week—when to add your next box. And for some of you, let’s chat about why you have two boxes on already, because that may be more room than they want…