Suited up and ready to go. Well ... I did forget to put my hood up until the last minute when Beth reminded me :-) That would have been a bad start!
I put the package in the shade while we got ready. This morning when I got up, they were very quiet. By the time we were moving them, they were very active and loudly buzzing.
We had a few supplies set up. A spray bottle with syrup to keep the girls busy. Tools to get the can out of the package, and a baggie full of syrup to feed them once in the hive.
The idea was to pull out the can and quickly cover the opening until I could get the queen out.
The idea was to pull out the can and quickly cover the opening until I could get the queen out.
She is in her own miniature cage in the package. I was able to extract her, but she was covered in bees. We tried to carefully brush them off. There was a cork in the end of her cage that I needed to remove and replace with a small marshmallow. The idea is to not release the queen too quickly, but eventually, in a day or two, they should be able to eat through the marshmallow and let her out. I pinned the queen cage to a bar in the hive so it is hanging from the top.
Next come the bees!
Next come the bees!
After knocking the package on the ground to collect the bees at the package bottom, I dumped them into the hive. They were .... well, not real happy with the operation :-) Lots of flying bees at that point. Fortunately, these jackets work really well and neither of got stung, although it wasn't from lack of trying!
After all that, we put the bars back into place. I put the baggie full of syrup on top and cut a few slits in it so they can access it. This is only temporary. we'll take it out later.
After that, we closed up shop and moved away to brush the bees off of us. We've kept a far eye on them most of the day. They were flying a lot at first, but then they quieted down as it got cooler.
All closed up!
We peeked in the window just before dark. Everyone was clustered up around where I put the queen.
Now we need to let them sit for a while and see what they do. So far they are doing well.
Now we need to let them sit for a while and see what they do. So far they are doing well.
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