Hey there! I'm a new beekeeper, and I just got my first colony today in the form of package bees. Now the weather is making me nervous about when to install them. They were shipped on Saturday, so they've been in the box for two days.
All of a sudden a cold front is coming through and it's going to be below freezing tonight and tomorrow night, the high is in the 50s (F) today and the 40s tomorrow. Wednesday should be good, so Wednesday at about 5pm is probably the first opportunity I'll have to install them. What would you do?
Also, how can I be sure to keep them alive inside that cage for three more days? I know I should spray or brush sugar syrup on them, right? Will the queen be okay in her little cage?
Thank you so much. I'm new at this and I want my bees to thrive. I hate the weather sometimes.
Do they have plenty of syrup in the feeder can?
Bring them inside the house with you. They may have enough syrup to get them by but you could brush some sugar water on the screen.
The queen should be ok, she has attendants caring for her. Keep them in a dark place but out of the cold.
...JP
I feel your pain. I'm expecting two more packages tomorrow. I'm in Talladega and we are expecting below freezing temps tonight and tomorrow night. I think my new bees will spend the night in the house. I'm sure my wife will love that!!!!
Spray the 1:1 syrup mix onto your packages! DO NOT brush it on because the brush can damage the proboscis (tongue)!
Had the same problem with the weather here in Connecticut. Picked up my new packages at 8am and then the sky opened up. Was able to install two new hives in between the downpours. One of our local members help package the bees so I know that they were only in their shipping cages for only 30 hours, but the sugar syrup was 3/4 gone. The girls must have been hungry.
Put them in a dark, quiet basement if you can. Make sure they don't run out of food. Either spray some syrup on the sides everyday or refill the can. This can be tricky depending on how it's set up. You can keep them this way for a week or more.