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Too Cold for hiving packages?

5K views 24 replies 16 participants last post by  YooperBee 
#1 · (Edited)
I just got my bees, April 4th, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. THe wind has been blowing non-stop 20-30 mph with temperatures in the teens to lower 20's. My supplier advised me to keep the bees in a sheltered spot, ideally my basement until the weather breaks. I have them in my basement in a cool (60 degrees) dark dry quiet room and am feeding in addition to their syrup can with sprays of sugar syrup at least once a day (2-3 shots on each side opf the package). I'm not sure what to do considering this strong wind and low temperatures (not forecoasted to break for another week). How long can this be done and at what risk to the bees?

My hives are all ready in the beeyard but I'm afraid to expose the bees to the very cold extremes. Any ideas would be welcome.
 
#2 · (Edited)
I have kept them at least a week in the past. I sprayed morning and evening. Better to feed too much than not enough. (Feed...not drown ;) )

They are going to be stuck anyways if you hive them. Its actually better that you wait instead of having them needing to be fed in the hive.

You will hear of many beekeepers losing hives this year due to starving hives(packages) recently placed into new hives. Most around here brought packages up from georgia the first of April. Something I have said many times will eventually burn beekeepers one year. This may be the year....
 
#3 ·
With prices of packages so high and to have the best chance of success you need to understand your area weather. you should probably plan for packages to arrive at the end of April, early May or dandelion bloom in your area.
I liked using the buckfast and use to buy packages every year to help cover winter loses. No more, prices are out of my reach now that I'm retired and I'm not sure they are as good as they were in the past. I'm just going to have to work smarter & learn how to be a better beek. This forum is a good place to start:)
 
#4 ·
Not everyone has control over when their packages will arrive. Our club's packages are going to be delivered tomorrow from Georgia - it's just the way it is. So we'll be doing four installs tomorrow in 38 degree cloudy weather, with a 30% chance of precipitation - no doubt it'll be snow.
 
#14 ·
Then I wouldn't buy them:) . Packages if ordered early enough in the fall can be delivered within a resonable date that will allow your packages the full benifit of warmer weather. Anybody who installs packages in this type of weather is just asking to get burnned. If your going to throw your money away.....give it to me:D .
 
#6 ·
I had to hive packages last year when it was windy and rainy and the method I used that time was to take the queen out, hit the package on the ground and dip quickly in warm water. Dump them into a box, feed and leave a lone for a while. I got this method from another beekeeper and it worked very nicely.
 
#10 ·
Hiving cold

Thanks for the repsonses. Bjorn, I guess I'll give the weather a few days, it is really nasty, I think too cold (15=20 degrees and 20-30 mph winds) for Isaac's baptism method, unless I want insta-fereezee-beezee. I suspect they'd quickly freeze into a mass in the bottom of the hive. Ann, I'd be ecstatic with a 35 degree day.
 
#11 ·
Son-in-law and I hived 9 packages here in S.E. Wisconsin today. Low 30s and very breezy. Last package we put in I found the queen was dead. Called my supplier and drove back to pick up replacement. Returned home and put her in the hive using my truck headlights. Long afternoon. Now leaving them to settle in. Also crossing my fingers. Good luck to all this year.
 
#12 ·
Jim,
The dip into warm water I presume would aid in limiting the number of individuals that try to make a mad dash into the air rather than falling to the bottom of the new brood box.

As you suggest - It would be more than risky to douse them at prevaling ambient temperature (read up on wind chill).

If I had a package and tried this procedure in present weather conditions - the bees would make a pretty tinkling sound as they hit the bottom board.

Pembinabee
 
#13 ·
Hey there Chef

Okay, that is in western Washington. Having lived in both western Washington and Mich., there is a world of difference. If he dipped his bees in the UP in April he'd have icicles hanging from the stingers. There was a twenty degree package installation in BC last month, or was that ABJ, at any rate, the critical factor is less what temp it is when they go in, it is what will it be in the critical days ahead.

40-45 degrees is perfect indoor cluster temps and they are not all that bad for a week for packages installed, but they lid should not be pulled, all feed they will need should be right there for them and drawn comb helps when there is little coming in. Frames with pollen and honey should be right at the edge of the empty frame. The biggest advantage with packages and cool weather is the prevention of drifting.

So, if that is the way to go then, the queens probably need to go right in with the cluster. If that scares you, then attach a wire to the plug end of the cage and leave the end outside the cover so you can tug on it and let that queen out. That removes lifting the lid. Allowing those bees to form and keep a tight cluster is the critical factor.

The feed needs to be as close to that cluster as possible. I shove window screen (NOT HARDWARE CLOTH) into division board feeds in a wad, filling the cavity, that keeps precious nuc or package bees from drowning. The bees will work around the screen. The only problem in very cold weather is that (below freezing) that feeder can become a block of ice, so if it is cold enough for that to happen the feeder has to be a frame or two away from the cluster. Use and inner cover and dry sugar, just enough to fill the space between it and the outter cover. If you have no honey to feed, that might be all they have to eat in extreme cold.

The nice thing is there are probably only three more weeks of freeze ahead at worst and then breathing will again be possible. I wish you and your bees the best of luck in the UP.

Chrissy
 
#15 ·
hiving

Same thing happended to me here in Indiana. Mine are taking about 1/5 a quart a day of 1:1 . I have some insulation board over the inner cover with a quart mason jar over the cluster, and an empty deep ontop, so far so good.
 
#16 ·
You know, you can buy nucs... I nor any family member beek I can think of has ever bought a package. (I almost did this year, but changed my mind) My wife's grandfather bought bees last year and has some more comming this year, and even those are nucs from a supplier in GA. Why do so many buy a package?
 
#17 · (Edited)
I have installed packages and queens with temperatures in the upper 20’s and low 30’s, in the snow, rain, etc. The weather is never predictable or the same year to year. I have seen days in early April where you could have hived pacakges and then snow and cold weather for days at the end of April. When it has to get done, it has to be done.

If the temperatures are going to moderate some in a few days, it wouldn’t hurt to wait a little.

When installing in cold / cool weather do things as quickly as possible but done rush and make mistakes. Have all of the tools that you may need or want with you.

I set the hive up with an empty deep box on top. I sprinkle syrup on to the frames in the lower box. I set the jar feeders up before I start putting bees in.

I place the queen cage on the top bars close to the feeders. With the feeders and queen cage up top, this is where they are going to cluster.

A package box will fit into a deep hive box. With feeder jars and the queen in the middle of the empty box, the package with the screening cut and pulled up will release the bees. Close the hive will and they will cover the queen cage and cluster up. A few days later, remove the empty package box.

There will be dead bees in the package left behind from the traveling.

When the weather warms and the queen is released, you can reconfigure the hive the way you want it.

If you leave the empty box on too long they will start to build comb on the top bars. Just scrap it off.

Bees are much hardier than most people think and they take alot.
 
#20 ·
Too cold for hive top feeders?

Hi all,
I'm in northern Kentucky and I'll be installing 5 packages of bees this Tuesday. The forecasted temperatures range from high's in the upper 50's to lows in the upper 30's, cooler than normal.
I purchased 5 frame medium nucs and matching hive top feeders for these packages and am now wondering if the temperatures will keep the bees from climbing up into the feeders. If so, should I place some type of inverted jar feeder directly on the frame tops instead?
Thanks for any advice.
 
#21 ·
In their new homes

Today was warm enough (if you can call 25 degrees and 25 mph warm) that I got them into the hives okay. We used a small wind-shield to break the wind as we dumped them into the hives. Queens and bees are really liking their new digs, I could tell right away. Thanks alot for the responses and supportive comments.
 
#23 ·
Yeah 50s are great

I am glad you got a break. The weather forcasters made it sound like weeks of winter, so i am happy you folks in the east have a bit of a break. We just had two days of seventies over here in eastern Washington, pollen heavy, bees singing and the packages i ordered are coming in three weeks, first round of queens in four weeks and Yooper, are you the Super Yooper folks? If you are my deposit for those SY queens will be in the mail this month and they are in round two.

May Easter be as you want it, may the bears of the UP find fish rather than bees and darn if i don't want the bears here to do the same. Have a great season.

Chrissy at 4000 feet
 
#25 ·
Ian, that's exactly what I did, I misted them liberally with 1:1 SS and got em prompty into the hive before they got cold. worked like a charm. I can hardly wait the week before checking them out, but the cold weather the weatherman says is on the way will certainly keep me out of the hives. More snow forecasted. Ugh. C'mon Spring.
 
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