A time-honored way to increase honey bee populations is through purchasing “package bees.” These in reality are artificial swarms transferred to screened cages. They consist of around three pounds of bees (10,000), a can of syrup and a separate cage with a queen.
A big issue with these is that along with bringing in new bees, it is possible to introduce diseases and parasites. Talking to the supplier to determine what is done to ensure this does not happen is important for peace of mind. In addition, queen source is also important and similar questions to the supplier are in order as well.
Here’s contributor Bill Catherall installing his first package, published, April 7, 2015, 9:12 minutes in length:
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