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After much research and preparation, it’s finally Bee Day! This morning, we headed over the WSU extension in Spokane for our the Inland Empire Bee Association tutorial. They showed us how to install our bee package using IEBA bees. This was the second of several in class and field day experiences through IEBA.
Next, we picked up our bee package at Tate’s Honey Farm. There were stacks and stacks of bee packages. And inevitably, some bees always escape. Unfortunately, the marauding bees took a real liking to my shampoo. At least I got the first sting out of the way. Ouch!
Once we were home, we started up the smoker.
Next, we opened the package and removed the queen. She hangs from the roof of the box in her own little cage. To create a slow release timer, we replace the cork that holds her in with a marshmallow. Then we hung her between the frames in the bee box. Once deposited, the rest of the bees will take a few days to free her. And hopefully by then, they will feel like our hive is home.
Once the queen was in, it was time to put in the rest of the bees. There are 3 pounds of honey bees in a package. That’s about 10,000 Carniolan honey bees!
We’ve set up the hive with a starter mixture of sugar water to help them get the infrastructure of their hive started. We’ll be checking the levels every few days. But mostly what we have to do now is just wait and hope that they approve of their new home.
You could plant flowers around where your bees are…They really like flowers, it makes them very happy…We had a wild beehive up at our farm & I used to get stung…After a while you start to realize that the stings give you a burst of energy…Then you don’t mind getting stung at all…Good luck with your endeavour, Bee keeping is so necessary these days, so important for nature…What a beautiful thing to learn how to do…They are lovely very gentle creatures & beautiful to look at…Soft & furry…
as a child I was fastinated by our neighbors hive. They had the hive in the house and it had glass walls so you could watch. The bees exited via a tube that went out the wall
any honey bee in the immediate neighborhood was Mr Millers bee
Nice videos! At our demonstration we noted that the queen looked pretty mad and they countered with “she’s excited…” yep… excited is another word for it. I suppose.
Did you forget your gloves when getting the queen out, or what? Or was it a question of dexterity?
Martha that sounds super cool! I bet something like that would help our bees survive the winter better too! Now I want an indoor hive!
Ryan, the demonstration guys weren’t using gloves for anything. Most of the experienced guys seem to prefer the added dexterity over protection. I was just trying to emulate. 
Well, now…another adventure! It looks like you’ve done the homework and you’re ready to go, hope your bees thrive in their new environment. (Loved the video.)
~ Aunt Joyce