A New Season in Bee Keeping

We have been keeping bees at Mosquito Squad for a few years now. The education curve on bee keeping never stops. We are always learning something new.  We expect this new season to be no different.

The first thing we have to do is clean out the vacant hives and get them ready for a new package of bees to make their home. We need to check for damage to the frames inside the hives. Last year we had one hive get infested with beetles that damaged some of the frames and killed off the bee hive. Those frames needed to be repaired or replaced

After getting our hives ready for the season, we need to pick up the bees we ordered for the new season. We get our bees and equipment from Triad Bee Supply in Trinity NC. We picked up our box of new bees at the very end of March. The box holds 3lbs of bees (several hundred).

Inside the box is a metal can that holds a syrupy sugar water for food. Next to that can is a small box that holds the Queen. At the end of the box you can see a sugar plug. After 3 or so days, the Queen will not remember that she has been place in the hive and will not fly away. She will call the new hive home. You place the small box in the hive. It takes the Queen 3 days to eat through the plug and she will stay in the hive and allow the other bees to mate with her, hopefully creating a healthy hive.

Once the Queen bee is secured, you can put the rest of the worker bees in the hive. You need to take the box that the bees came in, and dump them into the hive and let it sit there. You place in the hive a food source for the bees. This is a syrupy sugar water that is placed in a tray on the top. After a while, the bees that were in the box will all transition to the hive.

Now we are ready to let nature happen. We watch the hives and make sure they have food. We make sure and test for the presence of varroa mites and other insect predators that can destroy a hive. We will keep you updated on how our hives are doing as we go through the season.

If you want to learn more u about our hives or how Mosquito Squad can protect you from the dangers of mosquitoes and ticks on your property, please give us a call at 336-617-5268. We are offering $50 off season packages of 5 or more treatments.