Bee moving day
Apr 22, 2020 14:48:49 #
3# or 20,000 bees and their Queen moving into a Kenya top bar bee hive - Dave
Apr 22, 2020 14:59:10 #
Apr 22, 2020 20:21:07 #
I kept bees for a couple years. I was never able to get them through the winter successfully so eventually I handed the chore over to a professional.
In the meantime I had to repopulate the hive a couple times in the spring. I found the process interesting. I found that you could order 5 pounds of bees by mail. The shipper has to provide your phone number on the label so the post office can call you for pickup when they arrive in your town.
The bees come in a box, about 8"x8"x12". It's a frame with screening around it and a wooden top. There's a can of sugar syrup stuck through the wooden top, with a hole in it, not large enough for the syrup to leak out, but large enough that the bees can get at the syrup. There is also a small cage containing a queen bee and a couple attendants. The can and cage are held in place by a strip of wood on the top. (That's what I got. Other bee providers may use different packaging).
To get the bees into your hive:
(1) Set the hive where you want it. Take the lid off and take a couple of the comb frames out.
(2) remove the strip of wood holding the can and the queen cage in place.
(3) whack the box on the ground. That will dislodge the bees that are hanging on to the can. You can then draw the can out of the box without damaging too many bees (the clearance is small). Also take out the queen cage and lay it aside.
(4) take the box, turn it upside down, and shake the bees into the hive. At this point you will have a cloud of bees around you. The interesting thing is that they will not sting you. The bees are homeless and have no hive to defend. They don't recognize the new hive because it doesn't have their scent. The only time you might get stung is if you swat at them. If you trap them so they can't get away they might sting you.
(5) Take the queen cage and put it in between a couple of the comb frames. Push the frames together to hold the cage in place. The queen is trapped in the cage, which has a hole plugged with sugar. The bees stick around because the queen is sticking around. After a couple of days the bees eat through the sugar and release the queen. By that time the hive has their scent. It's their hive. They will defend it.
(6) After a few days, smoke the bees (that calms them so they are less likely to sting) and remove the queen cage.
The repopulating can be done without protective gear. After they own the hive you will want the gear, although some people can mange to do without it. Not me.
PS: The rectangular boxes (as opposed to the fancy box in the OP) make it easy to stack more boxes of comb on top of a hive. A screen is placed between the top boxes (for bee eggs and larvae) and the top boxes (for honey). The screen prevents the queen (who is a bit larger than the workers) from going into the top boxes so they only have honey and the brood doesn't get mixed in.
In the meantime I had to repopulate the hive a couple times in the spring. I found the process interesting. I found that you could order 5 pounds of bees by mail. The shipper has to provide your phone number on the label so the post office can call you for pickup when they arrive in your town.
The bees come in a box, about 8"x8"x12". It's a frame with screening around it and a wooden top. There's a can of sugar syrup stuck through the wooden top, with a hole in it, not large enough for the syrup to leak out, but large enough that the bees can get at the syrup. There is also a small cage containing a queen bee and a couple attendants. The can and cage are held in place by a strip of wood on the top. (That's what I got. Other bee providers may use different packaging).
To get the bees into your hive:
(1) Set the hive where you want it. Take the lid off and take a couple of the comb frames out.
(2) remove the strip of wood holding the can and the queen cage in place.
(3) whack the box on the ground. That will dislodge the bees that are hanging on to the can. You can then draw the can out of the box without damaging too many bees (the clearance is small). Also take out the queen cage and lay it aside.
(4) take the box, turn it upside down, and shake the bees into the hive. At this point you will have a cloud of bees around you. The interesting thing is that they will not sting you. The bees are homeless and have no hive to defend. They don't recognize the new hive because it doesn't have their scent. The only time you might get stung is if you swat at them. If you trap them so they can't get away they might sting you.
(5) Take the queen cage and put it in between a couple of the comb frames. Push the frames together to hold the cage in place. The queen is trapped in the cage, which has a hole plugged with sugar. The bees stick around because the queen is sticking around. After a couple of days the bees eat through the sugar and release the queen. By that time the hive has their scent. It's their hive. They will defend it.
(6) After a few days, smoke the bees (that calms them so they are less likely to sting) and remove the queen cage.
The repopulating can be done without protective gear. After they own the hive you will want the gear, although some people can mange to do without it. Not me.
PS: The rectangular boxes (as opposed to the fancy box in the OP) make it easy to stack more boxes of comb on top of a hive. A screen is placed between the top boxes (for bee eggs and larvae) and the top boxes (for honey). The screen prevents the queen (who is a bit larger than the workers) from going into the top boxes so they only have honey and the brood doesn't get mixed in.
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