Bee Package

Instructions for Transferring the Bee Package into a Hive:

UPON ARRIVAL
Place the transport box in the shade and let the bee package rest for a few minutes.

TRANSFER OF THE BEE PACKAGE TO ITS FINAL HIVE

Place your hive in its final location.

1. Open your hive and remove the 4 central frames. Have your smoker lit and nearby, along with an airtight container.
2. Remove the small plastic cover from the top of the box, and ensure that the small pheromone tube is securely stapled under the cover. Place the cover with the pheromones in the airtight container. This tube artificially mimics the presence of the queen, and it is essential that you keep it away from the bees to avoid interfering with the acceptance of the new queen.
3. Position yourself above the open hive, and using an Exacto knife, cut the mesh material on one side of the box (left side, top, and right side).
4. Turn the box over the hive and shake it firmly to drop the bees in.
5. Gently replace the frames in the center of the hive, close the hive, and feed the colony with 1 liter of 1:1 sugar syrup in a Boardman-type entrance feeder. You can also place half a protein patty on top of the frames.
6. Reduce the entrance to the hive to limit drafts, while leaving space for the bees to come and go.
7. After about thirty minutes, return to the hive to insert the new queen in her cage, carefully opening the cage doors so the bees can release her by eating the sugar from both sides. Insert the cage using a toothpick passed through the hook to suspend it between two frames in the center.

After 5 days, open the hive and check if the queen has emerged from her cage. Remove the cage if it is empty. You can check if the queen is already laying eggs, but it is possible that her emergence was too recent and she hasn't started laying yet.
If the queen is still in her cage, you can release her, but be cautious as opening the cage might cause her to fly away.

Wait another 5 days, and check if the queen is laying eggs. If you do not find any, try to locate small larvae. If you find some, it means the queen is laying well. If you find neither eggs nor larvae, you need to act quickly and introduce a new queen.