THE LITTLE GOLDEN FOLK !
(Page 4 of 10)
March/April 1974
By Bill Benintente
You must not take honey from the brood chamber where the queen is raising her young. That part of the hive you leave strictly alone except for an examination once or twice a week to see how the laying progresses and to check for signs of bee disease. You can also look in to inspect the queen (if you can find her!) and/or artificially divide the colony before swarming time . . . but honey is harvested only from a hive's supers.
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HOW TO HIVE YOUR BEES
Your order of packaged bees will be delivered parcel post, in a small container that weighs about seven pounds. Three pounds will be the bee nucleus and their queen (caged by herself with a few workers) . . . the rest will be the shipping box of wire screening and wood and a perforated container of sugar syrup to feed the colony en route. The procedure for getting that humming mass of insects safely into their new home is simple: Just follow to the letter the directions on the shipping container and there'll be no trouble.Two hints to make the transfer easier: [ 1 ] Feed the bees well before unpacking them so that they'll be gentle and quiet. (Make a syrup by dissolving two parts sugar in one part water and smear this liquid generously over the wire screening.) [ 21 Install your colony in the late evening to reduce the chance that some of the exploring workers will be lost. With night coming on, they won't go far and will naturally return to the nearby hive. The next morning, before they leave, they'll hover a while near the entrance to get their bearings from the surrounding landmarks and appearance of their home base. After that they'll never forget where they live (unless you move them to a new location).
An easy way to free caged bees is to put an empty super (one without frames) on the bottom board of the hive. Then remove the cover board of the shipping cage and tilt the container to allow the feeding can to slide into your hand. Also lift out the queen's traveling box, which will be hanging among the workers. Insert the package of bees into the super-it will fit lengthwise perfectly-and top the empty storage unit with another filled with foundation frames.
On the wooden end of the queen's cage you'll find a tab of paper which peels off to reveal a hole plugged with bee-candy (the hive mother's traveling ration). Punch a few holes in this stopper with an awl or nail. Then hang the container between or above the frames in the second super and place a honey board on the hive. The workers will leave their container, fly up to the queen and release her by chewing away the candy plug.
Fill the shipping feeder with sugar syrup and invert the perforated can over the opening in the hive's honey board to supply the bees with food. Leave the creatures alone-except to replenish the syrup-for the next four days so that they can get down to business undisturbed. After that time you can remove the empty shipping cage and take away the bottom super to lower the loaded super (now a brood chamber) to its proper position. There you are . . . a growing colony of bees!
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