How do I Install a Queen Bee?

One of the more common methods of starting an apiary is to order your bees from a commercial vendor.

Man has been managing bee hives for the production of honey for thousands of years. Today many people manage their own beehives, or apiaries, as a hobby that produces the sweetest rewards. Most new beekeepers starting their first hive acquire their bees through mail order. The bees arrive in a small box with screen frames, along with a newly mated queen suspended in her own cage within the package. While it is relatively easy to transfer the worker bees to their new artificial hive, the queen requires special handling.

Things You'll Need

• Package of honey bees, including one queen
• 1 cup equal parts sugar and water
• Spray bottle
• Artificial box beehive
• Hive tool
• Smoker
• Beekeeper suit with a veil

Instructions

1. 

   Honey bees are shipped in a box with screened frames that mimic a honeycomb.

   Using your hive tool, pry off the top of the package. Your bees will likely have exhausted the supply of sugar water shipped with them and will be hungry. Pour your sugar water mixture into the spray bottle and spray the bees with the mixture. Replace the lid. Place the package of bees in a cool, dark area for two to four hours to allow them to settle.

2. 

   Bees will fall off the frame if you shake it.

   Put on your beekeeper suit and veil. Prepare your smoker. Using your hive tool, pry off the lid of the package and remove the three to four screened frames inside. The frames will be covered in bees. Hold the frames over your apiary and vigorously shake them to release the bees into your apiary. Use the smoker to control any wayward bees. Place the package on the ground next to your apiary to allow any remaining bees to crawl into the new hive.

3. 

   The queen will arrive packaged in her own small cage.

   Gently remove the queen cage. The queen will be trapped in the cage by a small cork at one end. Gently remove the cork. Under the cork will be a small ball of white sugar, called "queen candy." In one to two days, the queen will eat through the queen candy and be released into the rest of the hive.

4. 

   The queen will be released into the hive in one to two days.

   Place the queen in her cage, candy side up, between two center frames of your apiary. Make sure the cage sits tightly between the two frames or it will fall to the bottom of the hive.

5. Once the queen has been installed, spray the entire colony again with the sugar water mixture. Attach the lid of your apiary.

6. 

   Inspect the colony to see that the queen has begun laying eggs.

   Check the colony after five days to ensure that the queen is alive and has eaten her way free from the cage. Inspect the colony again in another five days to be sure the queen has started laying eggs.

Tips & Warnings

• Feed your bees often with the sugar water mixture. It will take several weeks before an ample supply of honey is available for them to use as a food source. Your bees also require a steady supply of the sugar water mixture to secrete wax used to build the honeycomb.

• Be certain to check your queen after five days. There are times when the worker bees reject the queen. If this is the case, the queen will be dead or missing from the hive. If this occurs, you can replace the queen by ordering another one from a commercial vendor.

References

• North Carolina State University: How to Install a Package of Honey Bees

Resources

• Honey Flow Farm: Package Bee Installation