Because there are several ways to introduce a package and a queen, I will only speak of a system that’s worked well for me over the years.
The first thing you do is have the receiving hive in place on a stand. Make sure you have a bottom board, top, hive body with frames, an entrance reducer and an entrance feeder with 2 parts sugar to 1 part water already in place.
When you receive your bees spray sugar water on the screen. Do not wipe the sugar water on the screen because you will crush the worker’s tongue. Make sure the weather is nice before taking the new package outside. If the weather doesn’t want to cooperate, keep the package inside the house. They will be fine for a couple of days. Make sure you feed them at least once a day.
Take the package out to its new home. Remove the hives lid and set it aside. Now place an empty brood box on top. On the package remove the cardboard holding the sugar water in place. Lift the package and bang it on the ground to get most of the bees on the bottom. Tilt the package so the sugar water container can easily be removed. Quickly pull it out and then grab the queen cage. Take the cardboard and lay it back over the open hole to prevent the bees from flying out.
Look at the queen’s cage and make sure she is moving around. At one end of the cage, it is stuffed with white candy. Pull the cork out on that end. When it’s in the hive the bees will eat through the candy, and she will be released.
Take the queen cage and set it on top of the frames screen facing up to one side Then take the package and bang it again. Tilt the package so some of the bees will cover the queen cage. Then set the package on its side on top of the frames facing the queen. Put the cover back on and you’re done. In 4 days lift the cover to see if the bees released the queen. If the queen is still in the cage, pull the screen back to release her. Keep the cage on top of the frames when doing so. Otherwise, she may fly out. If she’s released, grab the cage/package and put the cover back on.
The benefits of this procedure are. You don’t have a lot of bees flying around looking for their house mates. When the bees go out through the entrance, they will mark where home is. By laying the queen cage on top of the frames you need only to lift the cover and peek inside to see if the queen has been released. You don’t destroy any comb by shoving the queen cage between two frames like other methods suggest. When you separate the frames for the cage you mess up bee space and burr comb will appear. The cage cannot fall to the bottom board. You don’t have to suit up to see if the queen has been released.
“A day of work in the bee yard gives us the strength to bear the hectic parts of life in the real world.”
This article was written by Dennis Brown, a veteran beekeeper from Bryan, Texas (U.S.A.), with over 50 years of beekeeping experience since beginning in 1964. At one time, he managed 250 hives, raised his own queens, and performed all the duties of a commercial beekeeper. Dennis adapted or completely discarded many traditional beekeeping management practices found in books. Throughout his years with bees, he never introduced chemicals into his hives. Years ago, he started a “Survival of the Fittest” program that eliminated the need for chemicals. Dennis was a very successful beekeeper and enjoyed every minute of it. While there is much more to share about his beekeeping journey than space allows, his books capture the many changes and insights he developed over his career.
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