Problem installing package - some bees still in box

[klieb]

Hi, thank you for this forum.  I'm relatively new to beekeeping, having just helped a friend a time or two, enough to feel comfortable around bees and hives.  I'm trying to hive my first package and have run into problems.  I picked up my bees Saturday on short notice (I was originally told no bees for me this year), took a bit of time to get frames built, and it was getting on to Saturday evening when I was able to install them in the hive.  When I picked up the bees the supplier told me that the bees had been in the package long enough to know the queen, and that I should skip ahead a day in their instructions.  This meant replacing the cork with a marshmallow on the initial install.  So, I did as directed: put five frames in the hive, removed the queen in her little package, replaced cork with marshmallow, thumbtacked queen box to frame between frame 2 and 3, poured a generous handful  of bees over her cage, put the cage with the bulk of the bees in the open space where the missing five frames would go, capped it off with a cover.

Today, Sunday, I thought I should pick up with instructions for day three, which calls for removing the cage and adding the missing five frames.  I opened up the hive, and all the bees were in a cluster ball that extended from the feeder down into the cage (it was a cool day, 55F or so).  I lifted up the feeder and set it on some bricks so that the cluster was not disturbed.  I checked the queen cage, and saw that the queen was out of the cage, so I removed it.  I removed the cage, and put in the five frames.  I probably screwed up there: I should have left some frames out, but they were in.  I put the feeder on top gently.  This left the large mass of bees in the main package box; I shook as many out of the package box as possible down on the feeder (it's one of those feeders with two chambers that have ramps).  I put the lid on the hive, and the package box in front of the entrance with about a cup of bees clinging to the rim of the feeder can opening.  I figured that they would eventually find their way in to the hive to be with their sisters.

What troubles me is I worry that the queen was in the cluster on the rim of the package box.  I spent fifteen minutes watching that cluster, but I was having trouble seeing anything too clearly.  This hive is in a friends yard, and he reported that the cluster grew a bit after I left.  I don't know if that was because the bees that were disturbed and flying around just decided to go for the most visible cluster, or if the queen was in the cluster and attracting bees.

It was getting on to dark, so we decided to just put a blanket over the box to keep the bees in the package box warm, and deal with it in the morning.  I guess my plan in the morning will be to open up the hive again, take the feeder off off the hive temporarily, remove a couple of frames to make an opening.  Then remove one side of the package bee box a la the Beemaster youtube video, and really make sure that all the bees in the package box are shaken down into the opening.  Then close it up and not mess with the hive for a week (there is a lot of food in the feeder).   Does this sound like the best way forward?  It's going to be another cool day tomorrow, by the way.

Thank you for your advice.

Kurt
Portland, OR

[Michael Bush]

Shake them out.  Slam the box on one end to knock them loose and shake them out the hole.  Two or three or four times should get all but five or six bees out.  Then put the box out on the ground a few feet from the front of the hive until the rest have vacated.

[klieb]

OK, I got them all out of the box and dumped on the feeder (looked less disturbing to do it that way, as it was only a cup full of bees.  Now I'll leave them alone for a week before I add more food and check for brood.  Thanks for your advice!

Kurt

[Brian D. Bray]

When I hive a package I just place the queen cage between the middle 2 frames and shake the bees from the package over the frames.  The bees go down into the hive quite rapidly so the entire operation takes about 5 minutes if you're not demonstrating and explaining what you're doing and why.  I do the first shake of bees onto the frames before I put in the queen cage so she doesn't find herself along upon exit as I speed things up by removing the cork.