What to Do the First 24 Hours After Installing Bees
The first day after installing a package or nucleus colony is mostly about restraint. Your bees need time to adjust to their new home, find their bearings, and start organizing themselves—and your job is to let them do it with minimal interference. A few simple checks and a lot of patience will set you up for success.
Leave the Hive Closed
Keep the entrance reducer in place and the hive completely closed for the first 24 hours. Your bees are disoriented. They’ve been shaken into a box, transported in a truck, and dumped into an unfamiliar structure. If you open the hive now, confused bees will fly out and get lost trying to find their way back to their old home, even though it no longer exists. Closing them in forces them to settle down, find the food you’ve provided, and start building a sense of “this is home.” After the first 24 hours, open the entrance reducer to its smallest setting so foragers can begin coming and going.
The only exception is if you installed from a nucleus colony (a “nuc”)—a small box with frames already drawn and populated. Nucs are less disoriented because they’re already in a hive-like structure, so some beekeepers open them after a few hours. But for package bees, the 24-hour closure is standard practice and worth following.
During this time, make sure the entrance is actually sealed. If you installed into a top-bar hive or another style, double-check that there’s no gap where bees can squeeze out. You want them contained but not suffocating—ensure there’s adequate ventilation, especially on warm days. A small gap at the top of the hive is fine and actually helpful. Also confirm that a feeder with sugar syrup is already inside or accessible to the bees before you close up; package bees arrive with no food stores of their own and need that resource from the moment they’re installed.
Confirm the Queen Cage Is Positioned Correctly
The queen cage should be positioned between two frames in the middle of the cluster, with the candy end facing upward or horizontally. The candy plug is the release mechanism: over 3–5 days, the workers will eat through it and free the queen. Positioning the candy end upward or horizontally ensures the bees can reach it easily and that the exit stays clear. If the cage is tilted with the candy end pointing straight down, there is a risk the exit becomes blocked.
In a standard wooden queen cage, one end holds the candy and serves as the release point; the other end has a cork that was used during shipping. Leave the candy end intact and let the bees do the work. If you installed a plastic cage (common with some suppliers), follow the same principle—position it where the bees can reach it and where it won’t fall or shift. Some beekeepers use a rubber band or a frame rest to keep it stable. A queen cage that falls into the bottom of the hive is a frustrating mess to recover.
Don’t open the cage yourself. The whole point of the cage is that the bees acclimate to the queen’s pheromone while she’s contained, so they accept her when they release her. If you release her directly into the hive on day one, the workers might ball her—cluster tightly around her and kill her—because they don’t recognize her yet. Let the candy do its job.
Watch for Orientation Flights
Around day two or three, after you’ve opened the hive, you’ll see bees taking short, curious flights in front of the entrance. They’re learning the location and appearance of their new home—this is called an orientation flight. It’s a good sign. They’re not trying to escape; they’re mapping.
During these flights, bees hover and circle in front of the entrance, sometimes backing up to look at it. They’re memorizing the hive’s position, color, and landmarks. If you move the hive even a few feet at this stage, many of the foragers will return to the old location and be lost. So don’t move it. If you absolutely must relocate, wait at least three weeks, or move it a significant distance away—far enough that the bees’ foraging range doesn’t overlap the old site.
Orientation flights are brief—usually a few minutes. They happen most on warm, sunny afternoons. You might see dozens of bees in the air at once. This is normal and healthy. It’s not a sign of aggression or that something is wrong. They’re just working.
What Not to Do on Day One
Don’t inspect the frames. Don’t pull anything out. Don’t smoke the hive. Don’t feed them yet if you installed into a hive with drawn comb (comb that bees have already built out and may have filled with honey or pollen) and food stores already present. Don’t tap on the hive or make noise near it. Don’t take photographs with a flash. Don’t invite the neighborhood over to watch.
The bees need quiet and darkness to settle. Any disturbance wastes their energy and delays the critical work of building comb, storing food, and accepting the queen. You’ve done your job by installing them safely. Now let biology take over.