Package bee question - URGENT!

[Elsa]

Hi All,

Long story short - I lost my Mom on April 15th which de-railed me pretty much all over. I didn't get my TBHs done on time when my bees came in. I picked them up Wednesday and only finished the hive this afternoon. My problems are: It's getting late and cool - my syrup isn't cool enough yet and I need to get on the road to get to my hometown tonight for my Mom's memorial service tomorrow.

My question is: Can I place the packages into the hive (I have it divided), spray them liberally with syrup (I'm sure they still have some in the feeder... but don't want them to go hungry), can I leave them and release them on Sunday when I come home??

My guilt is compounded because I had a million things to do for Mom's memorial and I finished the hive first, so I'm going to be burning the late oil, making the 3 hour drive and HOPEFULLY catching the last boat (they're on Vashon Island) tonight.

My stress level would be greatly reduced if I can park them for another day and a half. I can get my ex to spray them again tomorrow...

Please let me know if this is a viable option.

~ Elsa

[buckbee]

Hi Elsa,

Sorry to hear about your Mom.

Your bees will be fine in the cool and dark of the hive for a couple of days. Get your ex to spray them tomorrow - twice if possible. Install them Sunday afternoon.

Here's a link to instructions for installing (http://www.gobeekeeping.com/o893.htm).

Good luck.

[Elsa]

Thanks Buckbee. Zack (my son) and I carried the packages up to the hive and I sprayed them down... Well, I got more confident the more I "played" (spray - soft knock down - spray again) that I finally decided to just go ahead, suit up, and do it right.

Of course, we could do it so right that we could get pictures of our first installation. :( But it went really smoothly. I really didn't want to install both colonies in two separate ends of the same hive, but moving them from a Nuc (not yet built) wouldn't be much different than transferring them to the second (yet to be built) hive... at least, that's the reasoning I used.

Anyhoo... with only a few bee kill (and I don't know how anyone gets used to that) we got them in without drama. It got dark as we finished, and I know none of the bees outside the hive will survive, so we tried not to have too many of those. My followers weren't as snug as I'd planned and perhaps a dozen or two bees got through... does that mean war in the space between? Will the hives pour in toward eachother and we'll come back to a mountain of dead bees in the middle?? The only other thing I was worried about was that I followed directions from the company from whom I bought the bees and they directed to put the queen cage between the 2nd and 3rd bar facing into the hive. I just had a worrisome thought that perhaps I should have put her closer to the center... I forgot to pour bees on top of her, but they were on almost every bar as I finished up.

So, that's where we are. I put feeders in with them with more than enough syrup to last through Sunday. I think I'll be more nervous opening the hive for the first time than I was installing the bees! Taking the plug out and putting a marshmallow in it's place wasn't nearly as dramatic as I anticipated. I just kept reminding myself that the queen can't sting. :)

Gotta' get a few more things done and get on the road. Thank you so much for your words of condolence. Tomorrow will be a very draining day. Hopefully I'll come home to happy bees, though.

~ Elsa

[buckbee]

You did fine, Elsa. There are no guarantees with bees, but my bet is that they will be happy enough with what you did.

I would leave them for a fews days to settle in - you need to check the queens have been released in 3 days, of course - and don't attempt to move either one until they have established a brood nest. You will have to be extra careful with bars of fresh comb not to twist them at all.

Are you planning to put one colony in another apiary? If not, you need to think about how to place their new hive so they don't return to the old one.

Anyway, all these things can be dealt with in good time.

Good luck. :)

[Elsa]

Are you planning to put one colony in another apiary? If not, you need to think about how to place their new hive so they don't return to the old one.


Hmmm... I hadn't thought about that. I planned on putting them into a Nuc until the other full hive is built and I could put that right in front (butted up against) the hive from which I was planning to move them. I have a different problem now, though. I posted another thread because one colony is gone. The queen is there and is alive and well, but there's no sign of the colony I put in the hive. There are few dead bees in there either. I didn't open the colony at the other end - is it possible that the colony that defected moved in next door? There are lots of bees in there, but without popping the bars (we weren't suited up and I didn't want to disturb them this evening) I can't tell if there are double what I installed on Friday.

I don't know what to do with my other Queen now! I'd like to find her more girls!

~ Elsa