Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
the bees in place. A few dead bees will be on the bottom of the cage; if there is a ½″
(1.3 cm)-thick layer, contact the supplier.
A queen cage is shown here, along with the fondant candy and cork in place.
You'll get your package from a local supplier or through the mail. Order it far enough
in advance to assure there are packages available for delivery when you want them. A
good rule of thumb is to have your bees arrive when deciduous fruit trees or dandelions
are about to bloom—April or May in the northern hemisphere, October or November
in the southern hemisphere. Therefore, your equipment should be ready before the bees
arrive.
If possible, when ordering your bees by mail, make arrangements with the supplier
to have them arrive midweek. Weekend mailings can sometimes be neglected in large
post offices. Make sure your phone number (home, work, or cell phone for daytime
messages) is prominently displayed on top of the package, with instructions to call you
when the package arrives at your local post office. Remember to inform the post of-
fice that you must retrieve the package immediately. Some post offices will store it in
an out-of-the-way place, such as a loading dock, or storage room. Unfortunately, these
places can be too warm, which can be lethal to the bees if held there too long.
Local suppliers drive to the package producer and pick up packages directly, reducing
the delivery time and the stress on the bees. You can get packages either with a queen
or without one and install the one you want later. Bees are a commodity, but the queen
is the future of your colony. Don't settle for just any queen.
If you purchased the bees from a local supplier, you'll pick them up on the assigned
day—usually a weekend—right after they arrive.
In either case, get the bees home as soon as possible. These bees will be
stressed—they have been several days away from their home colony with limited food,
a strange queen, temperature extremes, and jostling.
Of course, you should get the bees into their new home as soon as you can. That may
be just an hour or two, or a day or two, depending on your schedule and the weather.
