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Your bees will arrive in wooden box about the size of a shoe box covered with screen. The box will have enough bee food (sugar water) to keep them fed for the trip. The queen will be in her own little box. She can’t escape, but the screen on her box is coarse enough so the other bees can feed her.

When you’re ready to introduce the bees to their new hive, take out the the little queen cage. Her cage has a little plug made of sugar that has been covered, take off the cover and hang her cage in your new hive. Then pour the rest of bees into the hive over their queen. They’ll cluster around her and start eating away at the sugar plug, but that’ll take time and by the time they free her, she and they will feel at home in their new hive. Pretty clever, huh?

If you are new to the hobby I understand your nervousness. Keep calm, work slowly and try not to smash any bees as you work the hive. When you smash one they release a pheromone that is a scream for help. They don’t like dark colors and if you can arrange your hive so you can work it from the rear. Casting your shadow at the entrance bothers them. Work your hive on nice sunny day when the older worker bees are harvesting nectar and pollen—they are the ones more likely to sting. Smoke is your friend, but if it doesn’t settle them down, do what you were going to do tomorrow. Hope this helps.