How long to keep bees in shipping box

[Denise]

We picked up 2 packages of new ladies yesterday and the weather is HORRIBLE. No way we can hive them. We have been struggling to get into the mid 40's for weeks and today is blustery to go along with the rain. You would swear it was still February.
They are in our enclosed porch at the moment. It stays around 65 degrees in there so they should be nice and comfortable. I've loosely covered them with a towel to keep them calm and periodically spritz them with sugar water. I like the low level hum coming from them. It's kind of relaxing. The dog, however, is freaked by it. So are the cats. They give it a wide berth.
How long can the poor things stay cooped up in the box before things get desperate? It will be several more days according to the weather report before things get any better. Can we wait, or should be just hive them regardless of the temp?

[TimLa]

This weather has been unreal.

I picked mine up on a Friday, and held them until Sunday.  Hived them at 2PM in a brief moment of sunshine, it was 38 degrees out.  Monday removed the queen cage, they were clustering, a few going out to look around.  Yesterday they were out in force and drank about a pint of syrup.  Today they were less chaotic, but still a lot of traffic in and out.

It was 30 degrees overnight Sunday evening, and they appear to be doing well.  I'll open the hive rhis weekend and see if they are doing anything 'interesting'

I read somewhere that 7 days is about the longest that you want to keep them in the shipping box...

-T

[Michael Bush]

Lift the can and see if they are empty.  If so, I'd refill them.  If they have the rubber circles and a piece of cloth, then pop out the rubber gasket, refill and put it back in.  Meanwhile, of course, cover the hole on the package so the bees don't all leave.  :)   If it doesn't have the rubber gasket, then use a knife or a "church key" and put a hole just big enough to get syrup to run in and refill.  Then take a piece of beeswax and work it with your fingers and press it into the hole.  Turn the can upside down and make sure it doesn't pop out.  Put the can back in.  They should be good for several more days now.  Put them in a room temperature, quiet, dark place, like the basement.

[Denise]

We managed to get them hived last night after work. What a fiasco. I felt so bad because it was cold and trying to rain. The worst kind of weather to do this. Any bee that didn't make it directly into the hive and fell to the ground, died. It was just too cold for the poor things to fly back to the hive. I felt terrible for them. I did try to get as many in as I could find. So only a small handfull actually didn't make it. Normally, we would have never attempted this in such crappy weather, but we were out of time. I can only hope they will be able to make it on their own now. We will have to check back in and see if the queens have been released on Sunday or so. They claim the weekend will be somewhat warmer and dry. *fingers crossed*

[buzzbee]

Looking at the weather for your area next 10 days or so,bees should be fine with a little feed if nothing is blooming.

[Gregg]

Just pickedup a new package from the post office, this morning. It is raining so I will put them in there new home this afrternoon.

[Cindi]

Denise, I feel your sorrow.  I know what you are talking about when you speak that the death of some bees is traumatic.  It is.  There is nothing to say about it, but don't worry, there are hundreds more that got in safely.  Sometimes we just have to do what we have to do.  You had to get the packages hived, there was no way around it.  The bees will get busy and replace those lost bees in no time.  This will not be the only time that inadvertently bees will be killed, it just happens, as sad as it is, and I know, I get sad too.  But.....things will be OK.  You will probably never toughen up (I know I haven't in three years), there will always be that bit of sadness when stuff occurs, but, still, keep that chin up, you will be OK, hee, hee.  Now, just get to work and make this the best year for the bees, hee, hee.  Have a wonderful and most beautiful day, Cindi

[Denise]

Boy, the weekend weather sure made up for the crappy week we had. Saturday was 70 and sunny. Finally!! We opened up all 3 hives and things are great. The Barbarians, our remaining hive, are going gangbusters. Lots of capped brood and activity. I'm glad they are still with us. They have always been a good hive. We went ahead and checked in on the 2 new ones (now dubbed the Celts and the Vikings) and they both have released their queens and are settling in nicely. It was so good to get some decent weather for them to get out and get used to their new home. We are in full bloom on the cherry and plum trees. Nectar city! We are making sure to keep syrup available on all 3 hives to get them thru the rainy, cold, cruddy days that will keep right on thru June. Sheesh. Gotta love spring in Oregon.

[bassman1977]

I am finding myself in a similar situation.   It looks like it will be raining for the next week with temps in the mid-40s.  Your success story allows me to rest a bit easier but, I'm still as cranky as a bee hive with the cover open in a rain storm.   :(  I wish my bees would have come today.  At least the sun is out.

I really wanted to requeen my carnolian hive too.  The current queen is a bum.  BLAH!

[SingingBees]

Hi!  I'm new here, but just had to say that this thread helped keep me sane for the past couple of days; my first package arrived Monday, but we've had low temps since then, and I was afraid to hive them.  Looks like today's the day!   :)

[Mklangelo]

I hived mine at 42 Degrees F day before yesterday and yesterday was no warmer.  Around those temps, a little sun can make all the difference.

[bassman1977]

I'm going to blame the Canucks for sending this weather down to us.   :-P  Thanks a lot Cindi  :-D !

[SingingBees]

Too true about the little bit of sun.  Finally had some today - the bees are in, and hopefully happy!  Woo hoo!  That was fun!

[bassman1977]

What a fiasco.  I got home from a conference at about 7:30 this evening.  Guess what is waiting at the door but 5 packages of bees.  Apparently the Post Office called this afternoon to let me know the bees were ready for pickup.  Typically they call at 5:00am.  Well, my wonderful wife went and picked them up.  She had more guts than the Postmaster.  Postmaster was skiddish and wore gloves, my wife, a true beek wife, grabbed them and went.  :-D

Anyway, with this crummy weather we are supposed to be getting, I figured I would go ahead and get them hived tonight with the 45 minutes of light that was left and the decreasing temps.  Luckily my buddy, who I am mentoring was in the neighborhood and helped out a good bit.  We finished up at 9:00pm and 43 degree temp.

Like Denise, I think there was a bunch that I couldn't get out of the package and are probably going to have an early death.  Better a few than the whole package I guess.  :-\

I'm going to have to get some food to them tomorrow.  All the cans were empty when I received them.  Hopefully they don't muck things up too bad since I doubt I will be able to get into the hives for a week due to the rain.  I'll wait a few days and hope there's a long enough break that I can get everything back in order.

Anyway, that was my exciting evening.     :mrgreen:

[Cindi]

I'm going to blame the Canucks for sending this weather down to us.   :-P  Thanks a lot Cindi  :-D !

Na, na, na, na, na!!!  :-P  Beautiful days and more beautiful days to come, promise, Cindi

[bassman1977]

Na, na, na, na, na!!!  tongue  Beautiful days and more beautiful days to come, promise, Cindi

I'm going to hold you to that!   8-)