bee package are here

[lee]

i got my bee package saturday. i have been giveing them sugar water and some old honey. but then i seen what they are doing . they are building a comb in the package it is about 4' by 3' long is that a new queen.  anyone know. thanks

[SherryL]

Not sure I'm following Lee.  Did you mean 4inches by 3 inches?  Are you talking about the queen cage?  Are the bees building comb to enclose the queen cage?

sherry

[lee]

yes it is 3 to 4 inches. and i can't see the queen cage.

[SherryL]

Without seeing it first hand, it's really difficult to know exactly what's going on with them.  It's 'possible' that they've already released the queen and she's not in the cage anymore.  

I wouldn't panic, the bees are pretty smart, and will do what they want to do at this point anyway.  If you're able to, you might want to give the box a very sturdy shake to shake the bees downward away from the queen cage and maybe you can see if the candy 'cork' has been eaten away (indicating that they've released the queen).  

I feel your pain with the weather situation, I think pretty much everyone north of the Mason/Dixon line is in the same boat.  Hang in there, you may be able to get them in a box in another day or two.  Having snow on the ground won't be a problem as long as the temps work their way up a bit.

[Michael Bush]

The  queen cage in a package is very difficlult to see since it's ALWAYS covered with bees.  They cork should be in so the bees can't let her out.  Packages are supposed to come with a new queen.  They will build comb if there are there long enouh and you feed them enough.  If the comb keeps growing, that's a good sign they are not starving.  But it's also a sign they've been in there a while.  Make sure they get fed.  The can is probably dry by now.