It is pretty common for package bees to leave their brand new hive only days after being installed. It’s unfortunate, but this happens quite often to new beekeepers through no real fault of their own.
Even though it happens frequently, there are some steps a beginner can take to reduce the risk of the new package of bees from leaving.
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Rub Beeswax On New Equipment
A package of bees doesn’t stay in a new hive because you tell them to, you have to convince them to do it. Some packages are harder to convince than others, but rubbing beeswax over the inside of the boxes can go a long way in keeping the new package inside the new equipment. It just helps the hive feel a little more lived in that way.
No need to melt it down and brush it, you can simply take a block of wax and scrape it onto the surface. It works great!
Feed Sugar Syrup
Feed bees plenty of sugar water, never letting it run out. For packages or nucleus hives, think in gallons of 1:1 syrup, not in quarts. Stop feeding when they have enough comb and capped honey to survive the winter.
The sugar syrup helps the bees to get established quickly and gives them less time to consider leaving.
Feeding bees is not ideal and definitely not something you should do year-round. But it is essential when starting a new colony in new equipment. Without the extra help from the sugar syrup, it’s possible the colony will not be ready for winter before it comes.
Don't Rush The Queen
The worker bees need to build comb on the foundation before the queen can even lay eggs It will likely take the worker bees a couple of days to get sufficient comb started.
Release her immediately and she won’t have any comb to lay eggs in and it significantly increases their chance of leaving.
So be patient and give the queen 2 or 3 days to get out of the queen cage naturally so the worker bees can get the hive ready.
Give Bees Drawn Comb
Giving the bees a frame with drawn comb on it is a huge boost to the colony getting started. HUGE! Dark comb a queen has already laid eggs in is best, but any comb is good.
The dark comb produces a pheromone that encourages packages to stay and it also gives the queen an immediate place to start laying eggs.
If you are new to beekeeping, this is impossible unless you can buy one from another beekeeper.
Give Bees A Frame Of Open Brood
This is the end-all bee all of the tricks to keep a package of bees from leaving. Giving them a frame of comb with eggs and larva in it will make your new bees stay.
Even though those larva and eggs don’t below that queen, the bees in your package will take care of them. They won’t abandon them.
The drawn comb also gives the queen an immediate place to lay eggs. To do this, you would need a beekeeper friend who could provide a frame for you. It’s not something that you could normally buy.
Adam Hickman
Adam Hickman owns Foxhound Bee Company and is a certified EAS Master Beekeeper. Before ever selling a box through Foxhound Bee Company, Adam wrote beekeeping blogs for education. Adam regularly teaches beekeeping classes through Foxhound Bee Co and also through his local beekeeping club
