Some new bees moved in last week.

If you’ve not seen it before, you can order packages of live honey bees that come through the mail.

It took the bees about 5 days to make it from Kentucky to my local post office. In the past the post office delivered them. This year they requested I come pick them up.

It’s hard to see in the pictures but, each package contains about 3 lbs of bees. This includes both worker and drone bees. Of course a breed queen is also included along with a large can of syrup which is what kept them alive on their journey.

In spite of the many days, miles, and I am sure bumpy handling these honey bees arrived in good numbers and strength.

Sadly though one of my queens arrived deceased. In the picture below if you look close you will see a bee with a white dot on her back. That is the queen. The other bees in the cage are attending bees.

They feed her and see to her every need, as best they can. On one side of the cage you will see a white mass. That is fondant sugar. this serves 2 purposes. 1, to sustain the bees and queen in the cage. 2, to act as a slow release mechanism. The idea is that the workers have more time to become familiar with the queens scent and to eat the fondant from outside the cage to release her. This is a little extra insurance to insure that the colony will accept her.

I contacted the company I purchased these bees through and they will be next day delivering me a new queen to replace her. Then all should be good with the colony.

Till next time.

Tim