Learning the Art of Keeping Bees -- Video One
This is the first step to install a bee package in your new hive. There are two videos in this post, each will show half of the process.
In this first video, I pull the queen out of the bee package and then remove the cork and replace it with a candy plug (a marshmallow). Then I install the queen cage in the hive box.
Next up--the drop! (That's what I call it when I dump the 4,000 worker bees in on top of the queen.)
Here is my beekeeping book on Amazon: The Beekeeper's Guide: Fun and Simple Steps to Apiary Success and Self Sufficiency
© 2013, Stone Golem Publishing, All rights reserved--no part of this may be used without express written consent.
**All pictures and video come from my phone--
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▶️ DTube
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Does the Queen eat the MarshMallow to get out ?
Great insight to the unknown.
Thanks for the dtube video.
That's a great question. The worker bees start to eat it right away. It typically takes them about two or three days to break through and free the queen. This allows the workers to "catch" the scent of the queen and accept her before she is free to walk around. The workers, having accepted her as the queen, work to keep her fed, comfortable, and laying eggs. If she was just released into the hive without a delay of a day or two or three, she might be inclined to leave since she doesn't feel quite at home.
Perfectly written!
Thank you for sharing tips on how to keep bees. Good luck always for you @bigpanda.
Absolutely! It is very fun for me to share.
@bigpanda You love to the bees and do a great work. Happy day
I do love the bees!
Wow! Amazing video! I learn something new today :) Don't you be afraid of bees? Eheheh
Thanks. I think you will really love the one I'm posting tomorrow.
This is very informative, but I am allergic to bees :-(
However I find them cute.
Cheers
Sudeshna
Glad you like it--bummer about the allergy. I think the bees are cute as well--so small and furry. I love watching them.
First looking as Dtube, awesome guideline to focus as keeping bees video @bigpanda
I always wondered how folks added the queen to get things started in a new hive. Thanks for sharing.
I was nervous when I saw the bee on your shirt working its way up. :)
Thanks for being nervous for me! I once wore a hood with a hole in it and had a few inside my hood--that actually made me a bit nervous. But my regular shirt and hood keep them away very effectively.
Do you get stung often? I notice you didn't have any smoke, is that normal?
Almost never on install. I don't use smoke when putting them in the hive--they aren't protecting anything because they don't have a home or a queen yet so they are very docile. I actually hardly ever wear gloves for install either, but I didn't want people to panic, so I wore them for the video.
When working on the hive at other times, once they are established, I always use my hood, gloves, and definitely smoke. The smoke masks the stings pheromone so if one bee does sting you or your clothes, the other bees don't come swarming over to sting as well. It also causes the bees to gorge on honey in the expectation they will have to abandon the hive and that distends their abdomen, making it harder for them to curl into the stinging position.
There is more to all this than I realized. Thanks.
Oh finally I have learned a new procedure, that how can we keep bees in the hive, that's an interseting thing which I have seen today. But tell me one thing there was a bee on your T!shirt, dO'nt you feel fear that the bee can bite you ??
They are pretty mellow during the install. They fly around all over and land on me quite a bit, but they are very docile at this stage because they don't have a home or queen to defend yet.
ohk ! taht's interseting :)
Really, is it possible to install a package of bees in a hive at home? I didn't before it that's why I'm shocked. Thank You so much, I'd love to try this method at my home. I may need more info if I stuck at some point then I'll contact you.:)
Definitely honeybees. They don't really sting when you are installing a new package--they are pretty mellow because they don't have a queen yet and aren't protecting their home.