# Where do I begin?



## clintonbemrose (Oct 23, 2001)

I have 2 pkgs of bees coming very soon and I've ordered a box of 4.9mm foundation. Where shall I begin? 
At the beginning, Install the foundation into your frames.

Do I put the new bees in a nucleus box with frames of foundation or in a regular brood box?
I normally start each pkg in a brood box with 10 frames.

How many frames?
Answer: 10 frames

What do you reccommend I feed the bees?
I feed 50/50 syrup measured by weight.

Is your experience that white sugar syrup is fine or that it weakens their immune system like a human? 
White sugar is the next best to honey. But don't go out and purchase honey as you may being in a disease to your new bees.

Should I try the zip lock/ honey idea found on Bee Source? 
there are many ways to feed your bees but I prefer to use hive top feeders as I can fill them without destrubing the bees

How much do I feed a new package of bees and for how long?
Feed your bees until they don't take the syrup as they are finding their own nector

I am brand new at beekeeping so please bear with me! I am curioius about the queen. How often does a queen mate?
The queen mates only once in her life to as many drone bees as 5 to 7 and this will keep her going from 2 to 4 years. 
Is it daily? If I keep a queen excluder on when the new bees arrive, how long do I keep it there?
Depending on its use, If between the bottom board and the hive body no more than 2 weeks. If above the brood chamber but below the honey suppers until fall or when the honey suppers are removed.

How long do her eggs remain fertile after she mates?

Do bees work at night?
bees work at night inside the hive only

To answer the rest and more questions you need to read some books. The first that comes to mind is The Hive and the Honeybee
and you might join a local beekeeping club. Your county extension agent should have that info. Also try to find a local beekeeper to be your mentor

I'm curious about their sight and light? Isn't it dark in their hives even during the day? If they work well in dim light, then does it bother them greatly each time I'll be going to check their progress and needs?

Clint (learning beekeeper sence 1964

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Clinton Bemrose
just South of Lansing Michigan


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I have 2 pkgs of bees coming very soon and I've ordered a box of 4.9mm foundation. Where shall I begin? Do I put the new bees in a nucleus box with frames of foundation or in a regular brood box? How many frames?

All sorts of arrangments will work fine. If you HAVE a nuc box, I'd put them in that for the first three weeks or so because I've seen remarkable results doing that. I have started packages in one 5 frame medium nuc, one 10 frame medium box, one ten frame deep box and three ten frame medium boxes. They all did fine. I didn't see any noticable difference between one medium and three mediums, but I did notice a difference in the nuc. Any way you do it they bees will most likely do just fine.

>What do you reccommend I feed the bees? Is your experience that white sugar syrup is fine or that it weakens their immune system like a human?

I don't think of bees as reacting to sugar like humans. Honey is best if you have it. I worry less about sugar syrup in the spring than in the fall. I prefer them to overwinter on honey. That's when they are most stressed and most limited in their choices of food.

>Should I try the zip lock/ honey idea found on Bee Source? How much do I feed a new package of bees and for how long?

I try to feed until they have a good 10 frame box full of brood and bees. After that they can pretty much take care of themselves, unless there is a drought or a dearth, but you can feed as much and as long as you like. I have never used the baggie feeders but they seem popular. One problem is where are they in the hive? If you leave enough space at the top for the feeders (a shim of some sort? A feeder box from Brushy Mt.?) they will burr it all up more during a nectar flow than anytime. A quart jar over the inner cover works fine. Just poke some small holes in the lid, fill it up and turn it over on the inner cover with a box around that. Or buy a feeder. My favorite is the Rapid Feeder. http://www.beeworks.com/uspage5.asp 

>I am brand new at beekeeping so please bear with me! I am curioius about the queen. How often does a queen mate? 

During one period of a few days, shortly after she emerges she mates several times. Once she starts to lay she never mates again.

>If I keep a queen excluder on when the new bees arrive, how long do I keep it there? How long do her eggs remain fertile after she mates?

Actually she stores the sperm and none of the eggs are fertile until she fertilizes them as she lays them. That sperm is stored from her mating flights which only take place before she starts to lay and the sperm lasts the rest of her life.

>Do bees work at night? I'm curious about their sight and light? Isn't it dark in their hives even during the day?

They work all night, yes. The field bees don't, they just hang around, but the nurse bees and housekeepers are busy all the time. It is dark in the hive all the time.

>If they work well in dim light, then does it bother them greatly each time I'll be going to check their progress and needs?

Yes it does. It is a major disruption of the hive everytime you open it up.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

> If I keep a queen excluder on when the new bees arrive, how long do I keep it there? 

Until you see brood in the hive. They won't abscond if there is brood in the hive except under very extreme conditions, like a flood or a very long serious drought.


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