Queen bees arrived, need advise

[Ronnie Elliott]

The bees were shipped on the 23 from hawaii, they arrived at the post office on the 25. The post office sit on them for 2-days and were delivered to me this morning, before church 2-days later. The postman said they tried to deliver, and when he went to show me where it was noted, then he said, will i guess they didn't. I misted there cage with water, they seem ok. The temperature outside is 43-degrees, at 12:30p.m., and a light rain. Tomorrows forecast to be mostly sunny, and near 70-degrees. What do i need to do for them today?

[Michael Bush]

Queens or packages? Queens, I'd just put a drop of water on the cage (I assume there is candy in the cage) and keep them in a quiet dark place until you can introduce them to the hives. Packages I'd probably take them outside and pull the feeder can out and refill it and replace it. A few bees will get out, but if you jar the package good to knock the bees off there won't be many. A package is usually only shipped with just enough syrup to get them there. If they've been sitting in the post office that long they are probably out of food. If you're too shy to refill the feeder then you need to feed by putting syrup on the screen until they stop taking it at least once a day. Twice would be better. Again, keep them in a quiet dark place until you can install them.

[Antero]

After arrival, bees should be kept at room temperature (not exceeding 21Â’C). Sprinkle the screen sides with warm sugar syrup or use a handheld spray bottle not previously used for pesticide applications. DO NOT use a brush in applying syrup onto the screens as this may injure the feet and tongues of the bees. After the bees have filled themselves with syrup, they will remain quiet until the package is hived. Keep the packages at about 18Â’C and preferably in a dark storage area. Packaged bees cannot be kept for much longer than 7 days.

Terry

[Barry Digman]

9/5C+32=F


"(not exceeding 21’C)"
(9/5)*21+32=69.8F

"Keep the packages at about 18’C"
(9/5)18+32=64.4F


I thinks.

[Ronnie Elliott]

The bees that i got or just queens. they have a few workers with each queen, in there small cages.

[Michael Bush]

Just put a drop of water on the screen every day and keep them in a quite, dark, room temperature place, like a closet or inside a cabinet until you can put them in the hive.

[Jim Fischer]

For next time, you certainly can make splits
and install queens in rain and 43 F temps.

I'm not saying it is fun, I'm just saying
that the bees won't mind too much. Some
people LIKE working bees in cooler temps,
as it makes them sluggish.

But you can also keep queens in their cages
for a few days. No problem as long as they
are not too hot, not too cold. Don't over-do
the water. A drop a day ought to do them
for a single-queen cage.

Make sure that they have not eaten all the
candy, and that they can get at the candy
(not blocked by a dead attendant).

[Jim Fischer]

Hey, wait a second... you get mail delivered
on EASTER SUNDAY?!?!?!?!?!

What's up with that?

Most beekeepers would be overjoyed to find
out that bee shipments are given such
attention by the post office.

What I do is call the postmaster for my
zip code, and tell her that I have queens
coming. She tells the staff, and when the
queens arrive, my cellphone rings and I
am told "your *^%$#& bees are here, come
get them as soon as you can."

So, I avoid the whole "last mile problem",
and also get to hand out some honey to
the sometimes frightened postal workers
to keep them from, ummm... "going postal"
on me. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Joel]

As a suggestion in the future, most of the queen breeders in Hawaii offer slender queen cages. They come in battery boxes and have nurse bees, food and water contained inside. They fit better between the frames and are excepted better due to the lack of attendants in the cage. you may have to ask for them. I'd like to get that kind of attention from my post office too. Mine usually get set out in the sun or the cold at the post office at some odd hour and I have to hope for the best!

[Ronnie Elliott]

These are really small cages, with a black cylinder tube run into the cage. They look to be a 1-inch, by 4-inches long, by 1/2-inch thick. How do you mount this type cage to let the queens out. I just left all 4-queens in there carboard delivery box, with the top cut out of the box. I turned the cages sideways in the box, and put it next to the frames. the bees tonight can go down and feed them with there tongues, i hope. I will try to get them installed tomorrow.

[Michael Bush]

Just make sure the bees can get to the "screen" to feed the queen. Whatever way you can figure out to get it to hang in the hive so they can release her.