IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Beekeeping Essentials:
• Bee suit and gloves
• Hive tool
• Complete brood box with bottom board and top cover
• Feeder of your choice (there are many options on the market)
• Sugar mixed with water at a 1:1 ratio
• Smoker and smoker fuel
Picking up your bees:
The bees ideally need to be picked up in the early morning before it gets hot (including the drive) or in the evening at dusk. For early morning pick-up, the hive entrance will be closed the night prior after dark so they cannot go out in the morning. If you pick up bees in the afternoon you will likely not get all of the bees because they are out foraging. The bees are easily transported in the back of a truck with ratchet straps to secure them. If you don’t have a truck, you can purchase a mesh bag to put the box in which will keep
the bees contained and not buzzing around your car during your drive. There will be a few bees out. It is impossible to get ALL the bees into the box!
Settling In:
When you receive your nuclei (NUC) colony, it will be a five-frame colony consisting of a queen, lots of bees, brood, pollen, and nectar frames. You will need to have an area prepared where you plan to keep the bees. The bees will be ready to move into a brood (8 or 10 frame) box immediately. If you don’t move them into a larger box within 5-7 days you will risk swarming. Place the bees into the new hive exactly how they are arranged in the NUC box. Brood in the middle with the honey and pollen on each side of the brood
and the new empty frames on the outer most sides.
Transitioning:
Once you get the bees moved into the brood box you will need to feed them sugar water. You will need to feed your bees until they learn their location and where to gather natural resources. Feeding them a 1:1 concentration of water and sugar will allow them to draw out wax on the empty foundation frames you will add. You might see a lot of bees flying around the box when they are initially set up and open in their new location. These are orientation flights and are to be expected.
Care & Management:
When a box becomes 80% full, 8 frames of drawn comb and bees, you will need to add another 8 or 10 frame box, which ever you are using, to give the bees space to grow. Optimum growth will be achieved by feeding the bees sugar water. Sugar water is a source of carbohydrate for adult bees and will give them energy and help wax production. You should not feed during the honey flow or the sugar water will be stored and you will not have 100% pure honey. The honey flow in north Texas typically happens between the month of May through July. It will be important for you to feed your bees after the honey flow if you have harvested your honey. Pollen is a source of protein to feed the queen and young larva. Pollen substitute is available in powder and patty form to feed when there is little natural pollen available.
Managing Pests:
We have found these 3 are the most common pests. It will be essential for you to familiarize and educate yourself on dealing with problems these pests will create.
• Varroa mites have become a problem for honey bees and as a result are a major cause of hive decline and even hive death. It is imperative that you treat your hives for this pest. There are many options for this to be accomplished. There are organic and non-organic methods of treating for varroa mites and you must become familiar with the method you will chose to use. Peak mite season in North Texas is August.
• Hive beetles are also a common pest in North Texas and will need to be controlled in the bee hive as well. A big strong hive will naturally fight off the hive beetles. We have found that placing bee hives in full sun decreases the risks of this common pest. If you must place your hive(s) under trees you will need to keep a sharp eye for this little pest. They are not as destructive to a bee hive as the varroa mite but will cause a hive to abscond or abandon the hive, if not kept in check.
• Wax moths can also be a problem for bee hives. These look like your common house moths but they feed on honey bees’ wax & pollen. If your hive is not large enough to fill most of its space, they will not be able to defend all of its frames. This is when wax moths move in and destroy your drawn-out frames. Frames that bees have built out with wax are “drawn out”.
RESOURCES/YOUTUBE VIDEOS WE HAVE FOUND HELPFUL:
A Canadian Beekeeper’s Blog
Kamon Reynolds – Tennessee’s Bees
University of Guelph Honey Bee Research Centre
Barnyard Bees
Bob Binnie
Funny Bug Bees
Fat Bee Man
Michael Palmer
