You will hear many ways to do this: This is what I do.
Start with one medium, take our 4-5 frames from middle.
Also put in the entrance reducer to the small or medium hole.
I like to spray up with sugar water all over the inside of all of the 8-10 frames/be generous.
Attach queen cage to one of the middle frames offset from the center( just so not directly under the innercover hole) - a thumb tack into the yellow ribbon typically works for me.
Shake all the bees into the hive - once you get most of them in - carefully and slowly push frames together adding the frames to the edges as you get space until you get 9of the 10 frames in. Make sure the queen cage is exposed so the other bees can feed through the screen.
You can take the second medium and spray it up with sugar water and put on top of the medium with bees.
Put your inner cover on
Set up you feeders (jars or trays) on top of inner cover hole. Trays might be easier to keep full for you- somethink like this one is a good start but you can use mason jars with holes in the lid. ( MANY OPTIONS)
https://www.amazon.com/PROLOSO-Feeder-Plastic-Beekeeping-Supplies/dp/B088ZDJTWV/ref=sr_1_17?crid=196VAX3D2CWPA&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.47F06-2Be8M35dkKjm7iI575dhdI_JF41mX1mKsLnEeaesGJp9gCpTO8pfttz-a9MRBqT9qsDXaellgnCSQabb_W4ARu3KgwhwCb4UOSBtDsCMMyCPrUh1V0EzFnljYLMJP75lgxRthS3yWK8gmHU7GynHflQwoKbe_MxupuRKKb3fKYuBcKhbzTwgIi-IPxPBbcN1LsaUUpmUZ9Kd-JXyDnDS46Xq51mfZPmqw7iZzyYdQYKk9tJu0zdQODPhaXgHKcliJThsc7vS-KUUxJ1cYk7_cbLJARFHPoX71DsLw.qowruLc7xITBPUe8J5hM2MCh7Rg565vlDgAGQsonna4&dib_tag=se&keywords=bee+feeder+tray&qid=1712869453&sprefix=bee+feeder+tray%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-17
Come back in 3 days, check queen and remove the queen cage cork on candy end and poke a tiny how through the candy and leave in. The bees and queen will release themselves in a few more days.
Check on feeder frequently at first(without disrupting bees) and get a feel for how much they are drinking and keep food on the hive. Keep syrup on the hive always until Mark Antunes tell you otherwise. New colonies need to build comb - they need lots of nectar to build comb - that is why we feed new packages alot.
After about a week - make sure the queen is released, and that comb is being build and perhaps look for signs of laid eggs in the comb. If they start making burr comb scrape it off and let them try again. The longer between visits might lead to more wasted burr comb that you will rip out.
It helps to keep the frames as tight to each other as you can( no gaps) You will learn quickly into this journey that spacing in a hive is very important. 2nd It is critical that the colony builds comb, a lot of comb on all frames that you have. Add next box when the bees are covering 8 or the 10 or 6 or the 8 frames and have comb built.
