New Apiary In Ma

[Chad S]

Recieved 5 Pkg. of Italians on Thursday 4-14.  Set up hives with foundation and hive bar feeder(?).  Mixed some syrup, and made brood builder pattys for each hive.  A friend came over in the afternoon to help with instalation.  Things went smoothly I did get stung once because a bee got caught in my tee shirt between the sleeve and my glove.  It did frost that night so any bees that did not get in the hive by sunset didn't make it.  I did spill a little syrup, and some bees stayed on the spills until it was to late for them to make it to safety.  I used an entrance reducer, and left a 2" opening on the left and right side of the bottom board 4" total.

Then I started to think about the feeders that I have, and the stories about drown bees etc.  These feeders do have grooved sides and I did stick a slat of wood in the feeder to give the bees something to crawl out on if the fall in.  The thing that worried me was how this container bowed out when I filled it.  I should have fixed it before I put the Bees in, but I didn't have tie wraps.  

So I got some things together including a cordless drill and some tie wraps and went back in on Saturday.  I drilled a hole in the feeders with a wooden block in the middle and tie wraped them together so that they did not bow out.  Also noticed that the Bees are fine so far with this method of feeding there were only a few drown bees.  I used sugar water spray to keep them ocupied while I did the work, and it seemed to do the trick.  

I checked the Queens and ended up releasing 4 after squirting everyone with sugar water.  3 scuttled right into the hive one took her time.  The fith Queen had been released by the colony.  I also added back the frame from the center of the hive that I had taken out to accomodate the Bees and the queen cage.  The Bees had drawn some very nice comb on a couple of the cages.  Also I saw the Bees Festooning which I though was amazing.  I was able to get all five hives, and was not stung nor were the Bees overly up set with me.  A little nervouse about the direct release, but from what I have read, and have been told I should be alright.

I have a couple of picture any chance you would post them for me Bee Master?

[Robo]

Chad,

Just PMed you.  I can post them for you.  You might want to consider getting an account at Imagestation or the likes. They have free photo storing.