This first picture is a look at the package, after the bees have been installed. As you can see, a can of sugar water is used to feed the bees while they are in transport. This can of sugar water also acts as the lid to keep the bees from escaping. Notice that when I remove the sugar water, I am able to remove the queen cage. The queen cage is attached to a metal strip that allows you to suspend it between two frames within the bottom brood box (you can think of the brood box as the nursery of the beehive). You will also notice that when I remove the queen cage, there is a small cork blocking her exit. The cork is removed and replaced with a "candy tube." The purpose of the candy tube is to allow what is called a, "slow release." That is, the queen is not immediately released into the hive; rather, she and the other bees will slowly eat through the candy in the candy tube to free her from the cage. This slow release allows the queen to circulate her pheromones throughout the hive and for the rest of the colony to get used to her scent and eventually accept her.
Click here to see the video of me installing my bees.
After dumping the bees in the hive, there are a bunch of bees still hanging out in the package. Kirk is trying to pour the rest of them out on to the front porch of the hive. If you look closely, you can see there is a wooden "stick-like" piece of wood laying in front of the hive. That piece of wood is called and entrance reducer. The entrance reducer is placed in front of the entrance to the hive to prevent a robbing situation while the bees are in a weakened state. That is, during the first weeks of the newly installed hive, the colony is not sufficiently established to defend the large entrance to the hive. I have heard that the reducer may be removed anywhere from 3 to 8 weeks from the day of install.
David, Kirk, Me, and Tyson. Thanks for filming Tyson, you are a brave man. The bees are in their new home, and without a single sting too!
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