# Package Delay



## buddey99 (Apr 26, 2013)

1) Long story but how long can I delay installing a package? 2) Would you install in the rain? Bees were shaken on Thursday and I get them Monday morning due to travel out of town.... Rain Monday thru Thursday.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Hell or high water ......... Install them. Then feed them correctly once they are. More packages go bad this time of year for lame excuses like rain, wind, or someones funeral. Get er done!.


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## rookie2531 (Jul 28, 2014)

If the weather was real bad, I probably would take as many frames out so the package would fit and put it in and feed on top with pollen sub and syrup. You might get some bur comb, but you can scrape it off.


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

Spoken like a true package producer. 
I guess your just CYA.



Honey-4-All said:


> Hell or high water ......... Install them. Then feed them correctly once they are. More packages go bad this time of year for lame excuses like rain, wind, or someones funeral. Get er done!.


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## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

clyderoad said:


> Spoken like a true package producer.
> I guess your just CYA.


Would you suggest someone wait the better part of a week before they install them? There are some goofy ideas, but some of the hair-brained stuff suggested to new beekeepers is crazy. You can't really argue that newbies don't do some damage to new packages. Especially when you consider the broad range of ideas about how to install, feed, etc.

I guess giving good advice = package producer covering their rear. Maybe he should have suggested he leave them in the cage with feed and let them come out whenever he gets around to it?


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## burns375 (Jul 15, 2013)

The rain is not constant monday-thursday. Scattered thunderstorms, just find time. Installing package is cake just get it done.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

Look on the bright side If it's raining there is no need to spray them to keep them from flying lol and there will probably be less drifting


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## rsjohnson2u (Apr 23, 2012)

Don't do the dump method if you're worried about the rain. Try one of the "soft" methods, such as putting the package in an empty hive body with the frames in a box above and letting them crawl out. You'll still need to get the queen cage out in the rain. Search or google/youtube package installation


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

I'm not going to argue at all, I say that there are conditions/reasons why waiting for a better day to install is not a "lame excuse".
Good advice is not as black & white as per the "lame excuse" comment and your examples suggest.



jwcarlson said:


> Would you suggest someone wait the better part of a week before they install them? There are some goofy ideas, but some of the hair-brained stuff suggested to new beekeepers is crazy. You can't really argue that newbies don't do some damage to new packages. Especially when you consider the broad range of ideas about how to install, feed, etc.
> 
> I guess giving good advice = package producer covering their rear. Maybe he should have suggested he leave them in the cage with feed and let them come out whenever he gets around to it?


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## Ravenseye (Apr 2, 2006)

In general, it's better to hive them than to wait. Obviously, if the weather is impossibly bad or you just cannot be there (or have anyone else there) to hive them then they'll have to wait. I wouldn't hesitate to hive in the rain. I've hived while it was snowing and I've hived in a downpour with my ever helpful wife holding an umbrella to keep the water off the bees. In my opinion, getting them into their hive is pretty important so if you have to wait, try to make the wait as short as possible. The bees will adapt quickly once their out of the package. Oh, and make sure they have sugar water. Sometimes they'll use it up quick so spray them with sugar water if you have to.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

How long does it take to actually pour a package. If all is prepared in advance the out of the box and into the hive portion of installation is less than a minute. Two minutes on the outside with syrup on top of them. Have someone helping? cut the time in half!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone who suggests a pile of bees is better off in a cage than their normal abode is off their rocker. Any time beyond three days in the box and they will be heading down hill.

I have poured thousands of them in the sun, in the rain, in the wind, and every other imaginable condition known to man including temps in the tens and twenties. Proper preparation followed by proper feeding will allow someone to pour in 99.9% of all conditions. In the long run its better for the bees. If you sat on my side of the phone and heard all the excuses people conjure up for why their bees are in sad shape after sitting on the package way to long you would want to scream as I am now. 

The internet is about as full of as many dumb "bee" ideas as can be crammed into a newbee's ignorant head. Anyone who thinks they can pussyfoot around with package bees and deal with them at your own personal convenience needs a head check. The "bees needs" absolutely have come first in this realm and anyone who wants to be dumb enough to put their own convenience ahead of the bees is going to be a failure at beekeeping......

The old adage about feeding the cows before yourself is just as applicable with bees. Care for them and they will care for you.


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## Tenbears (May 15, 2012)

Everyone may not always like the delivery Method. but there is Iron in these words!


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

It doesn't take much imagination to get this done in the rain and staying dry at the same time......


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## JakeDatc (Apr 19, 2010)

JRG13 said:


> It doesn't take much imagination to get this done in the rain and staying dry at the same time......


yep. my GF's dad set up one of those pop up tents last year. Could easily do the same thing with a blue tarp and some string. 

the bees want out.. you want them out. it's not rocket surgery.


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

you are kidding yourself if you think that bees can be hived in all conditions and if someone delays hiving it's only because 
of lame excuses. And hard
fathom that you've also experienced every condition known to man.
leave out the drama, it gets in the way of the message.



Honey-4-All said:


> How long does it take to actually pour a package. If all is prepared in advance the out of the box and into the hive portion of installation is less than a minute. Two minutes on the outside with syrup on top of them. Have someone helping? cut the time in half!!!!!!!!!!
> 
> Anyone who suggests a pile of bees is better off in a cage than their normal abode is off their rocker. Any time beyond three days in the box and they will be heading down hill.
> 
> ...


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

Not done so in the twirl of a tornado but just about everything else. If I was to have to pour some during a tornado the puppies would be taken down in the shelter with me if safety time allowed. Accuse me of drama and I will take home the B-Oscar if you wish. Not known to be Mr. Nicer guy when someone gets to tossing out LAMO excuses as to why they "can't" be done.

We have shook and poured packages under tarps , tents, and inside buildings depending on the prevailing conditions that most would consider nasty. The A list of valid reasons why one "must" wait is very short if ones priority is bee health and viability.


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## clyderoad (Jun 10, 2012)

Mr. Nice guy or not doesn't make a difference to me.
you win the b-oscar in the package producer POV catagory.


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

buddey99 said:


> 1) Long story but how long can I delay installing a package? 2) Would you install in the rain? Bees were shaken on Thursday and I get them Monday morning due to travel out of town.... Rain Monday thru Thursday.


The sooner the better, but sometime life gets in the way. Watch some videos so you are familiar with what you are going to encounter when you start prying the package open. The syrup can is somewhat hard to hold onto while getting ahold of the strap on the queen cage. Misting them with sugar water makes them pour into the hive much easier. 
It can be nerve racking for someone who is not used to thousands of bees flying around them. I'm assuming you've never done this, if you have, disregard this post.
Wait for a break in the weather and go for it. If you have everything ready it only takes a few minutes.

Good luck and have some fun.:banana:


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## newbury (Jul 19, 2014)

What about putting them in a hive inside?

For example, I missed getting packages this year, everybody seemed sold out. I may have lucked out because of the cold weather. Normally in early March in NE Mississippi it's highs of 60 deg. F plus. This year we had a stretch where it didn't get above the mid-20's.

However, I've a 40x60 unheated almost empty shop with concrete floor in Mississippi that even when the temps dropped down to single digits did not get colder than 29 deg. F inside at night and warmed up appreciably during the day. I was thinking that next year that I could set several hives up in the shop whenever I got the packages, regardless of weather, and open the doors (20' wide, 10' high) for the first several days before I move the hives about 50 yards outside.

Is this feasible?


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## buddey99 (Apr 26, 2013)

Thanks for all the advice... Packages installed today prior to the rain starting.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>1) Long story but how long can I delay installing a package?

If you make sure they don't run out of food, you might even be able to push it to three weeks, although a lot will start dying of old age. But why?

>2) Would you install in the rain? 

I would prefer to install in the rain.

>Bees were shaken on Thursday and I get them Monday morning due to travel out of town.... Rain Monday thru Thursday.

Perfect. Wait for a lull where it isn't pouring (just raining) and do it.


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## buzzleblast (Jan 16, 2014)

Tenbears said:


> Everyone may not always like the delivery Method. but there is Iron in these words!


Nice choice of words, Chief!


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## philip.devos (Aug 10, 2013)

Honey-4-All said:


> Hell or high water ......... Install them. Then feed them correctly once they are. More packages go bad this time of year for lame excuses like rain, wind, or someones funeral. Get er done!.


LOL!


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## Shutrbug (Feb 8, 2015)

AHudd said:


> The syrup can is somewhat hard to hold onto while getting ahold of the strap on the queen cage...


In the Youtube videos, it always looks so easy! This was the part that tripped me up the most. In the end, I figured out why they say that you use the hive tool for everything.


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## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

Shutrbug said:


> In the Youtube videos, it always looks so easy! This was the part that tripped me up the most. In the end, I figured out why they say that you use the hive tool for everything.


Ain't that the truth. I did three of them one morning in my lumber drying barn while thunderstorms were present. The first one, I let the syrup can slip a couple of times until I figured out which hand to use for what:scratch:, but then the third one was easy.


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