Most boxes of packaged bees have a built-in sugar syrup can with a quart of sugar syrup. That can must be removed before you can remove the queen cage and dump the bees into the hive.
Sometimes the top of the can is not flush with the top of the package and there is no lip to grip and remove the can. Getting such cans out of the box presents a difficulty.
My solution is to buy a magnet from the hardware store. The one I use has a cup hook soldered at the end and will support twenty pounds. That strength is adequate to pull up the can so it can be removed.
Give this tip a try.
This article first appeared in the April 2014 issue of The Skep, the newsletter of the Houston Beekeepers Association. mail comments to burger@burger.com