After Pick-Up

Placing your hive:

Once you get home place your hive where you want it permanently.  Bees have to be moved three miles to reset their instinct to where their home is. If you purchased the option 1 - nuc and are unable to transfer them as soon as you get home, place the nuc box on top of, or in the area where the hive will go. 

Open the entrance:

With either option, make sure you open up the entrance that night. This will allow the bees to get out in the morning and start their orientation flights. Do not leave the bee's entrance stopped up for too long. This is how they control the temperature in the hive. If you leave the entrance closed they can overheat and die. 

Feeding and treating your hives: 

You need to make sure the bees have a water source and that you are feeding them. Through the summer and winter months, there may not be a lot for them to forage on to sustain the hive. Also, we recommend you read up on the many pests that can damage the health of your colony and the treatment you would like to use. 

Checking your hives:

You will need to do hive inspections to monitor the health of your bees. Twice a month should be the minimum we recommend for inspections. Check the weather before opening your hives. Rain and extreme cold are not optimal times for checking your hives. The early mornings and late evenings are also not great times as all the grumpier field bees will be home. Always wear protective clothing and use a smoker. There are a lot of youtubers that do not practice these measures. We advise that you do. 

A problem after picking up your hives:

When we sell you a hive we want you to be happy and enjoy your bees. These are living creatures, however, and we do everything to ensure that you get a quality hive.  After splitting we do a series of checks to ensure a good population of healthy bees, and a laying queen. When you pick up your hive we also go through it with you again to ensure you are happy with the hive. Please ask any questions you may have when picking out your bees. Once again these are living creatures and nature has her own plans. Once you get home if you have any questions or concerns please contact us. We want to help. If something happens to your hive within the first month we will work with you to exchange your hive. Please note that after this time period these bee's health are your responsibility. Read up on treatment options and feeding options. Again, please let us know if there are any problems once you get your bees.