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RE: New Family at the Garden of the Goats
They reorient themselves pretty well 😆 don't know about your area, we don't seem to need to do a lot with ours aside from make sure their bird bath has enough water (to stop them coming to look for drinks at the water pots around the house) and that they're not getting attacked by other bees or mites or things.
Have fun 😄
The guy I bought them from suggested I keep them screened in for a day or so before letting them out. I just did the branch in the entrance trick and crossed my fingers. I see bees, so I think we're ok. He also suggested feeding sugar water through the summer. I didn't think that was necessary. Any thoughts?
Do you know how much honey is in the hive? Do you have a lot of flowering plants in the area?
If the hive has been completely stripped of honey and/or you don't have a lot of flowering plants nearby you may need to feed them just over the first summer so they can stock up for winter (especially if you have short summers or long winters, I forget if you mentioned where you were). After that they should be fine though.
But we are generally of the opinion that some beekeepers micromanage their bees too much ;)
Best thing to do would be to hunt down beekeepers in your local area as they'll obviously know more about how they respond to the local climate and all that jazz. There will be a directory or a forum somewhere :D
I'm in Missouri. They had a good harvest last year I believe, and have been feeding sugar constantly as far as I know.
They added a super a few weeks ago. I'll have to ask if they looked inside lately.