Bee Keeping Videos - Installing Packages

ebmaster801 · April 04, 2007, 10:16:43 PM

I stumbled on to this guy while searching for beekeeping videos..

nebees.com

He has a few videos including an exceptional one on installing a package... I also ended up buying some gear from him he ended up being very helpful and knowledgeable about the topic o beekeeping and saving me a bunch of money.

AndersMNelson · April 04, 2007, 10:37:03 PM

Hmmm...

Mklangelo · April 04, 2007, 11:29:22 PM

I'm anxious about my very first install and have read and heard about a couple of methods. Boardman feeders and forget the empty deep on top.

As the time draws near, I'm all for simple. I think I like the quick and easy method of a couple sticks and an empty paint can inverted over the inner cover. Simple is good. Bees don't care, they want their food is all.

This guy made it look like a walk in park.

Robo · April 05, 2007, 09:50:07 AM

Quote from: Mklangelo on April 04, 2007, 11:29:22 PM
As the time draws near, I'm all for simple.

Make sure you take a look at Beemaster's method here -> http://www.beemaster.com/inst2004.html

Opening the side of the package is much easier on you and the bees instead of banging/jerking/rolling them around trying to get them out thru the feeder can hole.

Billy The Beekeeper · April 05, 2007, 10:01:23 AM

Yea im gettin ready to install my first package in about 20 days or less and i watched some videos on it and i didnt understand why u would wanna bang them around. I know why they did but to me that just didnt look good on the bee's so i was goin to come up with a more conventional way to get them out so i dont hurt them or anything else. I like your idea Robo on opening the side i think im gonna try that one it seems alot more gentle on them. :-D :mrgreen:

Yea that Video was really educational but he still banged them bee's around alot.

beemaster · April 05, 2007, 10:22:26 AM

Awwwwwww Tankz Robo :)

I started removing the stapled side panels holding in the screen many years ago, and indeed for anyone installing their first package I promise you will cause a lot less trama to your bees and to yourself.

I really can't wait to get restarted this season - I now have a $300 gift certificate to shop for new hive parts with, I only need get bees (I'm shopping today) and I want to create my own videos all Summer long.

I'm a toy guy, I admit it - but the new digital camcorder really is a wonderful toy. The compressed videos you see on the net are an injustice to the hi-def quality these cameras take. My camcorder has 3 CCD devces for a vivid color range and low light conditions, incredible macro settings and a builtin 3.4megapixel camera for the better stills. I know in a land where 8megapixels rule, 3.4 sounds wimpy, but I say it is all in the hands of the photographer, a bad picture - no matter how many pixels, is still a bad picture, only larger - lol.

So please try the roll-out method of removing your bees from the package, it only takes 10 seconds to remove the staples and the bees ALL come out in a single pour, which beats bouncing them around the cage doing all kinds of damage to them and upsetting what could be a remarkable experience for the first timer :)

Sean Kelly · April 05, 2007, 10:46:52 AM

Wont I loose my cage deposit if I tear it apart?

fcderosa · April 05, 2007, 02:35:17 PM

Cage deposit? :-\ Who's doing that? I get my bees from Kelly's - never had to do a deposit. How much are they charging?

beemaster · April 05, 2007, 04:08:31 PM

I can see a deposit on a NUC but never heard of one on a cage before? I was wondering about that myself.

And honestly, you aren't destroying anything my way, the staples on the side are usually very long and can be tapped right back in place. Worse case, a drop or twp of glue on the side strips would stop them from ever coming apart.

I made a few temporary observation hives from packages before, good enough to keep a small colony alive quite a while while photographing them.

Sean Kelly · April 08, 2007, 07:52:00 AM

Quote from: fcderosa on April 05, 2007, 02:35:17 PM
Cage deposit? :-\ Who's doing that? I get my bees from Kelly's - never had to do a deposit. How much are they charging?

Yeah, Trees 'n Bees in Auburn, WA charges a $5 deposit for the cage. Costs more in gas to get back there to return it. lol
They are having a seminar in May that i'm gunna attend, I'll turn it in then. Deposit or not, I'm just happy to be getting bees and not having to mail order them. Can't wait, only 7 more days!!!

BeeHopper · April 08, 2007, 03:14:07 PM

It ceases to amaze me the amount of time and grief it takes to remove the feeder can from any package. I have seen countless videos, demonstrations and my own experience in installing packages and this is my only complaint in Beekeeping. :roll:

The 22nd is my big day: install 6 packages and 2 new queens. :-D

newbee101 · April 08, 2007, 03:20:32 PM

If you remove the side screen and pour the bees into the hive,
you won't have a problem getting the feeder can out again.

BeeHopper · April 08, 2007, 03:31:28 PM

Quote from: newbee101 on April 08, 2007, 03:20:32 PM
If you remove the side screen and pour the bees into the hive,
you won't have a problem getting the feeder can out again.

I was just thinking about that. :-D

Sean Kelly · April 10, 2007, 01:31:18 AM

Man, I'm gunna do it. Who cares about the darn deposit. I just watched a video of an install and the dude shook the package like a hundred times trying to get the girls out. Taking the side off the package looked much easier from the pics on Beemaster's page.

Sean