12 Must Do Things to Ensure Your Bee Package Thrives

/ Beginning Beekeeper / By

After years of shipping bees, we want to share how to be successful in receiving your honey bee order.  Did you know that having your bees delivered to your residence puts your bee shipment in jeopardy?  Here is a quick checklist on receiving your bee shipment.

  1. You receive a shipping notification from us.
  2. Call your local Post Office and let them know you have a bee shipment coming.
  3. Give the Post Office your phone number (We will place your phone number on the shipping sticker)
  4. Receive a call from the Post Office
  5. Go to the Post Office as quickly as possible (We hear wild stories every season, so get there as quickly as possible)
  6. Pick up your bee shipment.
  7. Install your bees within 24 hours to keep Nosema from being a problem.
  8. Do not release the queen for 3 days after you install the package
  9. Feed your bees internally within the hive for up to 6 weeks.
  10. Make sure the bees have 1:1 sugar water 24/7 to reduce swarming.
  11. Do not mark your queen for two weeks after the queen has been released from the queen cage.
  12. Be sure to add a super when the colony is at 80% of the top super to allow room for colony growth.

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