View Full Version : Only one cork?
Although things went well last night in hiving that first package, I was surprised to see that my queen cage had only one corked end and no candy. What's up with that? Did I goof by popping the cork when I put the queen cage in the hive? If anyone has an opinion, please advise since I'm planning to hive the next two packages tonight.
Thanks!
Mabe
Ok, I did a forum search for "one cork" and found the marshmallow idea and also advice to just let the queen out into the hive. The package has been together for at least 5 days now. Which do You all think would be the best route?
dcross
04-08-2005, 08:04 AM
That's the same kind of queen cage I got last year, I just pulled the screen off and let the queen into the hive after dumping the package in.
Michael Bush
04-08-2005, 08:15 AM
The main reason for leaving the queen in the cage with a package isn't acceptance, it's getting them settled in so they don't abscond. I'd just put an excluder on the bottom board and direct release her into the hive. That way she can't leave because of the excluder and they will get settled in. Next time you check on them you can remove the excluder.
The marshmallow should work also.
These kind of cages seem to be the norm with packages from California.
Butterchurn
04-08-2005, 08:30 AM
At the Unniversity of Minnesota Dr. Marla Spivak and Gary Reuter recommend the direct release method for packages. That's all they do. They've been recommending that for years.
I've followed their advice and when I was beekeeing 10 years ago it was all I did. I never had a problem with queen acceptance.
Ron
BeeBear
04-08-2005, 08:53 AM
>> At the Unniversity of Minnesota Dr. Marla Spivak and Gary Reuter recommend the direct release method for packages.
BUT they expect the package to have been together for a few days, assuming that it will take that long to travel from California or Texas to Minnesota. Normally that's a valid assumption, but in rare cases you get a package that was built only a couple of days before. The advice that I got was that the package should be at least three days old to use direct release. If it's not, then use the marshmallow technique [means you actually have to think ahead and buy marshmallows, which I didn't do] or just hang the cage in the new hive with the cork still in place, and come back in a day or two and do the direct release.
I, too, have heard Gary relate his success with direct release, and I subscribe to that technique. This year I got a package that was only two days old because it had been driven directly from California to MN (two drivers switching off pulling a trailer full of packages). I decided to do a direct release anyway, so in a few days I'll know if that was a fatal error.