Nearly a week in

It was clear and warm for a couple days as of yesterday. So, when checking on my bees they have been VERY active. They were covering the entrance of the hive, which is reduced to about .75x1 inch. I also noticed that not all, but several were bringing in pollen. They were visiting the in hive feeder, but not with much gusto. The queen had been released from the mild hives cage, so I removed the queen cage.

The bees that had been left on the packages when they were removed several days ago, were dead. They did not leave the boxes and so died exactly where I had left them. Poor girls!!

I also noticed, that the bees seem to still have nosema as there were yellow/tan dots EVERYWHERE on the hives and surrounding area. On top of the more active hive were several unrelated bees. They were much fuzzier and close to double the size of my bees. They however did have bee type wings and seemed to have bee physiology. Never seen bees like them though. I'm about 90% sure they weren't moths or flies, so they had me stumped.

The personality of the hives has remained consistent. The left hive is REALLY active inside and out and the right side hive is not so active inside or out.

Package removal

So I went out this morning at the advice of others on the forum to remove the boxes. It was mid 40's and overcast. I started with the more active hive. They didn't seem to care much until I started really separating things. They had already started building comb on the package box. The queen was already out of her cage. I certain hope she didn't get squished in all the ruckus. I tried to be as gentle as possible, but of course I did squash a few, I think. I left the queen cage and package cage outside the hive so the girls could get back, since they wouldn't get off.

I went back to the house to give them a few minutes to calm down. Unfortunately, I think two girls tried to sting me. I had two shirts and a pair of pants, so I didn't get stung. I found them on my clothes though one with stinger stuck and still attached. The other had already lost it's stinger and was wandering around on my shirt.

I was much more cautious with the second hive, now that I had done it once. It's queen was still in the cage so I left it on top of the frames. I just put the extra frames in the top box rather than removing it. I also left a lot more bees outside the hive rather than angering them by shaking them. I hope they're ok.

Day 3

Checked on the bees today. The bees were mildly active doing some cleansing flights. The front of the hives had significant yellow spotting. Opened the top covers to see that they were working the syrup and there was plenty of syrup. Weather remained cold all day, so I was not able to open and remove the package boxes and feeding cans. Hopefully it will be warmer and dry soon. Weather is calling for rain for the next few days. Tomorrow looks like lots of rain and high in the mid-fifties. Couldn't trust the weatherman today, not getting my hopes up for tomorrow.

My method, equipment, and plans

I bought my bees from Wolf Creek Apiaries after hearing a few podcasts that were interviews with John Seaborn, the apiarist of Wolf Creek. I first heard them in Los Angeles before moving and was thoroughly excited because they are only a couple hours away from where I was going to be in Tennessee. With patience and good timing I was able to get my bees from them. What excited me about them is that they practice relatively natural practices utilizing only essential oils in pest management as well as strictly raising small cell, 4.9mm , bees. These bees are purportedly more able to handle the mite infestations and require less outside pest management. Also, small cells equals more bees, which means more bees to collect, manage pests, etc.

I also bought my woodenware from a local supplier, Bon Aqua Springs. Trevor, who makes the woodenware, was mentored and is supported by the Seaborn's. They specialize in medium 8 frame hives. This is becoming a popular trend nowadays. There could be many reasons, but my reasons are that they are local, the hives bodies are easily interchangeable (so any frame can be put anywhere) and a full box will be less heavy. I'm not weak, but prefer to save my back if I can. They also utilize the essential oil treatments. What I didn't know, but love is their top frame feeder. It allows me to simply take the covers off the top and pour syrup without disturbing the hive since the feeder occupies the entire top box. The only bees disturbed are the ones currently feeding and the process is very quick. Yay for Bon Aqua Springs!

I intend on using as little treatment as possible and when I do treat I want to stay with essential oils as much as possible. The exception will be the treatment of boric acid for ants and small hive beetles, if I have to treat for these.

Queen's not dead

I found out from several sources that this was NOT my queen. YAY!!!

These are my workers though. I find it interesting that the one worker is SO much bigger than mine. Also notice that it has it's stinger out which suggests it stung someone or something. Given that this hive is a hundred yards from any edge of my property where people might be and none of my family has been stung, it must have been from another hive or had a fight with my bees. When you look at them in real life there is a VERY significant difference in size. The wings are longer, the head is larger, it clearly must be from a nearby hive and not mine. My bees are all small cell bees.

Day 2

Day 2

Woke up today to cold weather. It's in the 40's. I've read never to open the hive below 50 so, the hives stay closed today. I'll have to remove the package boxes tomorrow when it's supposed to be 60.

I was told on the forum today that all my 'bothering' the bees is risking having them leave. So, I'll leave them alone, but I do need to remove the boxes as soon as "weather permits". That means when it's warmer and not wet.

Found a couple dead bees outside the front of the hive. One was larger than my bees, so it's either a queen (!!SCARED!!) or a bee from somewhere else.

Just got em

Alright today is technically day 2, but I'm recalling day 1.

I picked up the package in the morning and came straight home and put them in the hive about an hour later. Ok, call me stupid, but I installed them with no equipment (veil, etc) at all. YEAH - no stings.

I simply removed the cork from the candy side of the queen box and hung it between two frames. I accidentally pulled the wrong cork on the first hive, but was able to pop it right back in without incident when I didn't see candy - oops!!! The weather was really windy and a little cool so I was told to remove a few frames and put the package in the hive and let the bees find their own way out. I did this.

A couple hours later I went to check on them. One hive was barely active - no bees outside the hive at all. The other one however had dozens of bees at the entrance reducer, several buzzing all over and had me a bit concerned. I opened up the inactive hive and they seemed peaceful and content humming quietly. I didn't dare open the busy hive.

Later they were still the same - a buzz of seemingly angry activity in one hive and nearly no activity in the other. I opened both to check to make sure I had bees in the one and to check on the queen in the other. It started to rain so I didn't get a chance to check on the queen.

Later I opened only the covers on the hives to give them sugar syrup with an essential oil stimulant recipe. This doesn't really expose the hive as the feeder occupies the entire top shallow box. An hour later the hives were both less active and when I opened the covers they were both actively drinking/feeding. I am guessing the angry hive didn't have any food.

I strapped the hives down and called it a day as there was a big storm coming through with tornado warnings and watches close by.

Stimulant recipe - 1 gallon of water to 8lbs of sugar. I boiled the water and gradually added the sugar while stirring. Then added about a teaspoon or two of lemon juice to invert the sugar. I let it remain at a rolling boil for about 10-15 minutes. Then I added 2 drops of tea tree oil, and 8 drops of lemon grass oil with an additional 1/2 cup of water. The oils and extra oils were added to a separate jar first and shaken vigorously then added to the sugar syrup. This made about a gallon and a half of stimulant syrup.