Beekeeping | Getting A New Package Of Bees? 5 TIPS TO KNOW NOW!

[@megannkids]

Thank you so stinking much for your videos!!! I puck up my very first package this Saturday. I'm so nervous and excited!!!

[@wayradbrad139]

Me too! 2 packages. You'll do great!

[@miguelevans7529]

Hi David I took your beekeeping class I’m 15 and starting a hive for the first time and your videos help a lot I’m a little nervous but excited

[@beek]

Miquel that's great. My youngest son is 15 so that's adventurous of you. You'll do fine!

[@roymaher8820]

This was a perfectly timed video as I have just cleaned up 2 dead hives. I learned a lot about bees during this process and as a 2 and year beekeeper your guidance on how to reuse frames with drawn comb helped a lot. I observed double sided drawn comb built up and off the plastic foundation. This year I applied some melted bees wax to undrawn areas on the foundations as you described in this video to maybe inspire drawing out the comb tight to the plastic foundation. Also I’m paying close attention to hive ventilation. Moisture falling onto the winter cluster appears to have killed my colonies later in the winter during cold snap. These videos are some of the best I’ve seen on beekeeping. Thanks for sharing this knowledge and the great tips. Roy Maher

[@nirrry]

Just received a copy of your book "Backyard Beekeeping" and have been watching your videos constantly. This is my first year keeping bees, starting with two hives and your tips are so appreciated! I hope to do well with the information from your book and videos.

[@beek]

Thanks Nicholas and thank you for subscribing.

[@tvideo1189]

Thanks' for the refresher. I had a package abscond from a new top bar hive this year. They ate through the candy plug in LESS THAN 24 HOURS! Aggravating to say the least. When I put in the replacement package I left the queen in the cage without pulling the candy plug for 3 days. That one "took". Hive doing fine now.

[@calvincheney7405]

I'd say the best gem of this video was using the excluder on the entrance base so the queen can't leave. That seems amazingly perceptive. Regarding a 5 frame nuc check on the queen after 3-5 days. Once new comb is being drawn & eggs are present remove the excluder. Once 10 days have passed remove the top feeder base from the top deep & add the second deep frames bringing one frame of brood up from the bottom~ Terrific!

[@beek]

You Got It! If you leave the queen excluder on more than 10 days between the bottom deep and the bottom board, you'll trap all the drones and they will clog the queen excluder. 10 days it has to come off.

[@amandaaskew7606]

So funny you published this video today! I have spent time yesterday, and this morning, re-watching your past videos about installing packages, and how to keep your bees from absconding! I found out yesterday, that my first package of bees are scheduled to ship April 20th!

[@TimSanders-v7m]

Great timing for this video, thank you so much David!!!!

[@paulahello7435]

Great video. Picking up my first packages today.

[@beek]

Cool, keep us posted!

[@casey197930]

Thank you!

[@beesandseas]

D that’s a great bonus tip. Thanks for sharing

[@timvener3723]

Mine very first are tentatively scheduled to come on the 16th!

[@beek]

Cool stuff....exciting. Keep us posted.

[@jvon0311]

Thanks for the information! We have your book coming in this week and working with some local bee keepers club to get our hive set up. Looking forward to seeing the hive success to come!

[@beek]

Awesome Jim

[@saundimcclain-kloeckener1234]

Thanks for the great video.

[@christajayne1160]

I get my first package of bees this weekend!

[@beek]

Wow, Christa!! Good for you. Everyone encourage Christa!!

[@viscache1]

Done and done! This was my first time. I prepared A LOT! For months! Sounds like I got all the right advice along the way! I dumped the bees in but they wouldn’t all go so I leaned it against the front entrance and checked back a few hours later. They all got out and into the hives! Three days later they freed the queen through the marshmallow that i used to block the hole. I did make one mistake…I put them into the box and then put the second deep on top with a queen excluder between….I guess we’ll see what happens! Thanks for another great video. The only thing I did on my own is to place a very tiny smear of lemon grass scent on the inside top lid to attract them. That and food and syrup. We’ve been getting a lot of cold and rain..you hit all the nails on the head! It’s reassuring to know I did a good job! I know it’s too soon to say so but my goal is 200 hives in 5 years…at least that’s the plan!

[@beek]

Nice job

[@mitchellwagner5141]

Thanks for another great video David especially the bonus tip! Definitely going to try that when I add my second box to my new packages this year. As a newbee beekeeper, I'm nervous right now with these cold rainy days here in Michigan. Idk when to start feeding my overwintered hive liquid??? I've researched many websites, that say that I shouldn't feed my girls liquid until it's an average of 50 degrees or higher outside...however the temps up here keep fluctuating. A week ago when I took a peak, my bees were still feeding heavy on the candy board and started to feed on a pollen patty I placed on top near the cluster. They were also actively flying in and out of the hive. Today was still cold, however, when I took another peak at them, there wasn't a single bee on the candy board or the patty, yet they were clustered tight and none were flying in and out. Should I already be feeding them liquid? Or should I just wait a few more days until temps get up a little higher? Any advice from you David or anyone else that has some knowledge on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[@henryparrott2447]

Great job old man. 👏

[@carlland9024]

Regarding the placement of supers question. I too found that a queen excluder became a honey excluder but tired of having brood in my honey supers. I remedied that by drilling a 5/8 inch entrance/vent hole on front center of each super. The bees now bypass the brood area and queen excluder by going directly into the super they are working.

[@beek]

When I tried that Carl, very few bees used it and wow did it entice robbing in the fall.

[@carlland9024]

@@beek yeah. I do have to duct tape the holes up come fall to stop the robbers

[@sonofone1-263Bees]

Congratulations on 100000 subs again.

[@GustavoSantino187]

Why Queen excluder is not used?

[@jeremyhale2225]

Hey David! I want to thank you for what your doing for us. Im receiving 2 packages tomorrow here in Western North Carolina. The temps have dropped today and is going to be 50 tomorrow. Temps for Sunday is 65. Should i wait to install until Sunday?

[@beek]

If the bees look good in their cage, you can wait until Sunday.

[@bethrobbins181]

Thanks so much for your videos. I’m a new beekeeper and excited to get started. Remind me please the best time of day to add my nucs to my hive and should I block the entrance for a day or two?

[@beek]

Afternoon or evening just before dark, no need to block.

[@garychampion2485]

Hello David, I am BRAND NEW to beekeeping. I have my box and supplies. The bees that I am going to attempt to bring to my box is a wild hive right next door. They are located in the storage compartment under a seat in a pontoon boat. Since I will be only moving them about 25 yards away from where they are a wild hive, should I bring the comb from their hive and place it in the center of my box by removing a couple frames? I know you are very busy and I thank you in advance for any help!

[@theflorencesoffgridjourney2960]

Helloooooo David.

[@rhondaberning466]

Hello was wondering if installing a new package do u recommend closing the door entrance and putting the queen in bottom brood box in her cage to introduce then a empty brood box on top with sugar water and patties then a queen encluder on top then lid for 5 days to encourage them to stay and start working on the frames then in 5 days take the excluder out open entrance and hope they stay

[@thomasbridgeman5815]

Can I hit a package with oxlicacid after installing the bees

[@emmawood2784]

Hi Do you think certain types of bee don’t like the queen excluders as iv seen a lot of commercial keepers use them in my country and also seen some with Canola bee take them off as the bees don’t seem to like them. Thanks for the tips they are great x

[@chefmorgan5449]

Hi david, question for you or maybe any other more experienced bee keepers I recently installed a couple packages of bees. I directly released the queen in the hive and placed the queen cage on the ground while dumping the bees into their new home. While cleaning up I noticed many bees congregating around the queen cage and it gave me this question- Could I take that queen cage to another location (5 plus miles from where me bees were installed) and put that queen cage in a swarm trap in an attempt to attract a swarm? What do you think? Thanks! Love your videos

[@ruthpenick4520]

When do you add the short to a new hive

[@beek]

What my video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/maXOg3ihmrKZj9U

[@tydavis1470]

Hello Sir, quick question. I had a hive last year (unfortunately I didn’t do enough home work and lost the colony) I used foundation less frames. I like that the bees can decide the cell size. But I had lots of cross comb. Would it be better to use a mixture of foundation less and foundation frames or just stick to foundation less? Any thoughts? Thank you for the time you put into the videos you make.

[@beek]

I've demonstrated that in some videos. Every other frame can be foundationless.

[@teklrkidaneberhe4158]

hi my question is I don't have Garden how I keep bees can you tell me please sir

[@EnigmaCoinCollector]

Hey David - longtime viewer, first time commenter. I am a new beekeeper and I am installing two packages here in the coming weeks. I purchased brand new hives that come with one deep and two supers. My question is will I need to purchase a second deep this year or will they not fill up the brood box and need that second box until next year? I live in western PA so we have a climate close to what you have out by you. Thanks!

[@beek]

YES! Get those other top deeps purchased!!

[@EnigmaCoinCollector]

@@beek thanks for the advise and the prompt reply! Love your videos, I just ordered the additional supers!

[@mrhomeimprovement9726]

Hi David, thank you for all your help to us new beekeepers. I have aquestion. Is is good idea to treat new bee package with oxalic wape? I am talking about soon after installation when there are no new eggs layed yet. Thank you!

[@beek]

Great question to ask on my livestream tonight (April 20th, 2023) at 7pm central time. Here's the link: kzbin.infobznQVxYar8c

[@davidslaughter9372]

If you have just few bees in your box do you get rid of them and the queen or just order bees without a queen

[@beek]

Sorry, do not understand your question. There are 10,000 bees in a 3 lb package

[@cecildean3648]

Are the queens that comes with packages breed ?

[@BrendaSanders-v5f]

This video was made in 2022. Do you still think that putting the queen excluder between bottom board and deep is a good idea? Thank you. Brenda

[@beek]

Absolutely, only for the first 10 days to help the bees not abscond.

[@joanndryoel167]

Do we need to smoke them? While installing them

[@beek]

You shouldn't need to because it is not the same as opening up a colony. But, you could have a few bees not be happy. Just wear your protective gear. I've never smoked bees when installing.

[@lisahunt4220]

Hello David. Thanks for all your great videos! I installed a new package a week ago in a hive with drawn comb frames. Girls can get right to work cleaning up and making it their own. I have 2 questions. When should I add the second box? -right away since all frames are drawn? I am using a deep for the bottom and a medium for the 2nd brood box. Can I put one of the medium frames in the lower box and when it has larvae use your method of putting that frame up in the Second box to draw the girls up? Thank you!

[@beek]

Lisa, these questions are covered in most Basic Beginner classes? I hope you've taken a class! After 5 frames are drawn out and have resources/brood on them add 2nd box. If you put a medium box in a deep box they will add 3 inches of comb to the bottom of it.

[@lisahunt4220]

@@beek Hello David. Thanks for getting back to me! Yes, I have taken a class, but wasn't told about moving a larvae frame up when adding the second box. This is the first year of trying the medium as my second brood box. It was just too heavy for me last year. And your answer confirms what I thought the bees would do with the smaller frame. I love your videos and your approach to beekeeping. Thanks for all you do!

[@teresawalker1545]

How come we don’t smoke the bees when installing a package?

[@beek]

Typically the bees are less defensive in a package.

[@TimSanders-v7m]

Thank you for this video, one question David, would you recommend adding a Green Drone Comb from the start or wait a month?

[@beek]

Absolutely! Dr. Tom Seeley has documented the age in swarm and they are of all ages but primarily wax building age.

[@TimSanders-v7m]

@@beek thank you!🐝

[@billschober9460]

Hello Dave do you have Topbar hives for sale on your website I looked but could not find them but I'm one of your videos I thought you said that you did thank you Bill

[@beek]

We use to many years ago, but there just wasn't an interest.

[@billschober9460]

@@beek do you feel visually impaired people can do beekeeping

[@thomasmoon3391]

Do you have a video on how to make a top feeder

[@beek]

🤔

[@beebob1279]

Glad to see you refreshing the install. However I would never ever drive a mail through a queen cage.

[@mattarnold8705]

Hi David thank you so much for the super important information hopefully everybody in the world can watch this video looking forward to getting bee's from you in April of 2023 again thank you very much for the important information you give

[@beek]

Thanks Matt, I hope you can join my livestream at 7pm central time. I'll also be giving away 3 of my online classes. Can you make it? Here's the link: kzbin.inforZyyNg7dGDA

[@marywickenheiser2628]

If weather is going to be cold a few days, can you use a sugar brick instead of syrup for a package?

[@ronaldritchie6196]

Mr Burns what is your thoughts on the Flow Hives?

[@beek]

In several videos I've said I'm sure it is great, I'd love to have one, but to much $$$ for me. Can't bring myself to pay $800 for just a hive. Still have to manage bees the same, just an easier way to get the honey out.

[@haroldmiller9942]

Thank you for this info David!! Very helpful!

[@skyhighactiondrones5453]

So you don’t lightly spray the bees with sugar water before releasing into hive?

[@beek]

Sometimes, but usually not. It's not a bad idea. Try not to get the queen wet.

[@angandandy3078]

Hello David!!!!!

[@calvincheney7405]

Received my Burns feeding systems today, wow you're fast! Thanks for the additional literature as well~

[@beek]

I do not deal with the website or orders, but my staff is very good at what they do. I'll let them know.

[@michaelfike7542]

Hope you know that the plastic packages the end opens up so you can dump all the bees out of the package instead of dumping them out of the round hole. 😉

[@beek]

Yup, made a video on how to do that last year.

[@michaelfike7542]

@@beek ok i haven't seen it. 👍❤🐝

[@WildlifeAdventuresWithVincent]

Hey David!

[@christinecontelmo9264]

Great bonus tip. I’ll give it a try. It’s finally going to reach the 60s here in New York next week. I’ll be able to dig in deep to my hives.

[@alexandriahoneyco]

Thanks for the video, really helpful info! Definitely picked up some good info I’ll keep in mind next time I pickup some packages.

[@beek]

Glad you enjoy it. Thanks

[@stevenwyberg956]

What do I do if my bruders are full?

[@beek]

Depend what they are full of. Brood or honey? If honey, extract a few frames to make room for the queen to lay. If full of brood, rejoice and feed from the top during a dearth.

[@beeware_honey]

As a newbee, I really appreciate your willingness to share great tips. Thank you.

[@pamtewes5276]

When installing a new package, if I have 3 frames of honey from last hive, should I keep it in the hive for food or do I put new foundation (not drawn out) for more room for bees? Do they need 10 empty frames or is it to their benefit to give honey??

[@beek]

Fine to use frames of honey as long as you are certain that those frames from a previous colony do not harbor any pathogens.

[@johnnypowell1213]

This was perfect for the coming week. It refreshed what I have learned and helped calm fears. Question, can I use too much Honey Bee healthy? I made two gallons and added 8 Tsp and it really seems potent.

[@beek]

My label says 1-2 tsp per 1 quart, so that would be 4-8 per Gallon. So your two gallons is fine!

[@Elliedalmatianqueen]

Thank you david! Getting my bees tonight

[@ryanvarner2338]

Absolutely LOVE the tip at the end!!!!! I feel that is going to speed things up for me here in fridgid MN

[@kotalee9941]

you're so right about taking a course

[@Michael-yl2iq]

Not sure what others do but I wait 7 days after installing package and do a Oxalic Acid vapor treatment without a mite count. I will not do a mite count until 30-45 days after installation. The Oxalic Acid vapor can be done without taking the hive apart and early on there is zero capped brood so I get maximum effect.

[@peterlightbody8443]

Freshly brewed coffee sign beside you, I ordered 1 in anticipation of coffee time, but it went cold .