Lesson 30: The First Weeks
What to check, when, and how to help a new colony grow
Your bees are in the hive. For the next several weeks your job comes down to three things: make sure the queen is laying, keep the bees fed, and give them room as they build comb. Don't open the hive every day. New colonies need time to settle, but do check on a schedule.
A timeline for a new package
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Day 0 | Install (lesson 26). Feed. Reduce the entrance. Leave them alone. |
| Days 2–5 | Check that the queen has been released from her cage. If she's still caged and the bees aren't biting at the cage, let her out onto the frames. Remove the empty cage. |
| About a week after she's released | Look for eggs and young larvae (lesson 34), and for new white wax comb being built. Eggs = a laying queen. No eggs? The queen may be dead or failing: order a replacement right away (lesson 46). |
| Every 1–2 weeks after | Check that there are eggs and a queen, that food is there, and how fast the bees are drawing comb. (Guides differ: every 7–10 days, or every two weeks for the first few months.) |
Nucs and established colonies already have a laying queen. Give them about a week to settle (lessons 27 and 28), then follow the same regular checks.
Feed, feed, feed
A new colony, especially a package, starts with no comb and no stored food. Bees need a lot of sugar to make wax (about 7–8 pounds of honey or syrup for each pound of wax; lesson 9), and the colony shrinks at first because the package bees die off before the first new bees emerge three weeks after the queen starts laying (lesson 7).
- Keep 1:1 sugar syrup available (lesson 39) until the colony has drawn out its comb and has food stored, or a strong nectar flow is on.
- A package on foundation can use a lot of syrup, several gallons over the first weeks. A colony given drawn comb needs much less.
- Refill the feeder whenever it's empty. Check it the day after installing to make sure the bees are taking syrup.
- Many new beekeepers stop feeding too soon, after the first box is full of comb. Mississippi State Extension calls that a big mistake: spring is the time bees can be pushed to build comb and grow fastest.
- If pollen is scarce, a small piece of pollen substitute helps brood rearing (lesson 39).
Watch the brood nest grow, without rearranging it
- Look at how the brood nest expands, but don't shuffle the frames around. Put frames back in the same order, brood in the center (lesson 9).
- Take out an outer frame first when you open the hive, which gives you room to slide the others without crushing bees or the queen (lesson 33).
- If the bees aren't clustered in the middle of the box, move the empty frames so the bees and brood are centered.
Adding the second box
When the bees have drawn out most of the foundation in the first box (roughly 7 to 8 of 10 frames, or once they've at least started the last frames), add a second box of frames.
- Traditionally the second box is another deep, making a two-deep brood chamber (lesson 17).
- To encourage the bees to move up, you can move one or two outer frames of drawn comb (with little or no brood) from the lower box into the center of the new box, with foundation around them.
- Keep feeding while they draw out the second box.
- Keep giving the bees more room as soon as they fill what they have.
The entrance reducer
Leave the entrance reducer on while the colony is small; it's easier for a small colony to guard. Open it up as the colony grows and traffic at the entrance gets busy.
Checking for mites
About a month after installing a nuc (or once any new colony is established), check for varroa mites (lesson 55). Nucs, established colonies and swarms can arrive with mites.
What to remember
- Check the queen is released in 2–5 days; look for eggs about a week later. No eggs → replace the queen promptly.
- Feed continuously, and don't stop too soon: new colonies need sugar to build comb.
- Don't rearrange the brood nest; take out an outer frame first.
- Add a second box when 7–8 frames of the first are drawn, and keep feeding.
- Check mites about a month in.
Quick check
- Why does a new package colony get smaller before it starts growing?
- What's the sign it's time to add a second box?
- What should you do if there are no eggs a week after the queen was released?
Show answers
1. The package bees age and die before the first new workers emerge, about three weeks after the queen starts laying. 2. The bees have drawn out most of the first box, about 7–8 of 10 frames. 3. Suspect the queen is dead or failing and get a replacement queen right away.
Adapted from: NC State Extension, How to Install a Package of Honey Bees (rev. 2024); UGA Bee Program, Getting Started: Installing Packaged Bees; Penn State Extension, Installing Packaged Bees; Purdue Extension, Advanced Beekeeping (4-H-1059-W); Mississippi State University Extension, Beginning Beekeeping in Mississippi (P3594); Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Establishing a Honey Bee Colony (2024); Montana State University Extension, Housing Honey Bees.
Adapted from university Extension sources. Experienced Georgia beekeepers are reviewing these lessons. See something that doesn't match your experience? Tell us.