I need a Queen NOW!

[John D. Smith]

I removed my old queen and put in a new WV Queen on Wednesday. I just checked them and the new queen wasn't released yet so I made the hole in the candy a little bigger and before I knew it, they killed her. An expensive lesson, yes, but more importantly, I need a queen fast. The only supplier of WV Queens that I know of can't ship them until the 9th. That's too long. Does anyone know where I can get a queen of any type quick?

[Zeke]

what particular breed of queen are you looking for ??
Zeke

[John D. Smith]

I'd prefer Italian

[Wallybee]

Are you sure that there isn't another queen in there? You didn't state if this was an establshed hive or a package. Virgin queens are sometimes in with the workers in a package.

[John D. Smith]

It's an established hive. I personally removed the old queen. I just let the new queen out too soon. I read that after 3 days you could go ahead and let her out if she wasn't released yet. She was walking around on the inner cover fine and the bees were fine with her. When she went in the hive however, she must have been attacked. When I took the frame out that she was on, she was in the process of dying. I've learned the lesson, but I still need a queen.

[beeman 202]

Do you subscribe to American Bee Journal or Bee Culture? In either of these periodicals, there are 30+- suppliers of queens.

Before you rush out and buy a new queen carefully check to see if they are raising their own queen. Remove 2 edge frames from the super and then carefully begin examining the frames for queen cells. These generally protude from the normal plane of the capped brood far enough that you need to use caution to prevent damaging these cells as you look frame to frame through the brood nest. If you find a queen cell with larvae or pupae, put your hive back together and leave it undisturbed so they can naturally do what you are trying to impose on them.

[John D. Smith]

If I let them raise their own queen, I won't know what kind offspring the new queen will produce, nor will I know their traits. I bought the bees last year as caucasians, but they did not resemble the description of a true caucasian. I tried to requeen with a WV queen (another hybrid) twice. I'd like to use a straight italian now so I be more certain of what to expect.

[BjornBee]

The key is whether they are raising a queen themselves. Some hives will not take a new caged queen if they are in the process of swarm prep or supercedure. You may of taken out the old queen but did you make sure there was no queen cells? I think this is what beeman was eluding to.

[John D. Smith]

Before I messed with things, the hive was perfectly normal. I'm going to order a new italian Monday, which means I'll have it in the hive by Tuesday afternoon. That will make the hive queenless for 3 days. Any suggestions on introducing the new queen?

[Michael Bush]

There are as many ways to introduce a queen as there are beekeepers, but the old standby is the hole in the candy method. I think it's as good as any.

[franc]

If you have queen cells in the hive you may just want to let the bees raise their own queen.If you install a caged queen it can still take days before she starts laying even after she is released from the cage.Depending on the weather and other factors a naturally raised queen may actually give you a faster headstart on brood raising.

[beeman 202]

Releasing Techniques:


1. If you have a cork in either end, soften a small marshmallow by getting it moist(maybe suck on it for a minute), and replace the cork with this marshmallow. Place queen cage in the hive and leave it alone.


2. If there is candy in the cage carve out a portion of it so that the bees only have 1/4 inch of candy to remove before releasing the queen. This will give you about 18-24 hrs. for the release. Again, place queen cage in and leave alone.

3. Direct release: Place queen cage in with the queenless bees for 24 hrs. Return with sugar water spray. Open hive, remove cage, spray exposed bees with the sugar water--just a small amount--maybe 1/3 cup sugar water, also spray the queen and dump her into the mass of moistened bees. Shut the hive and leave alone for 48+ hrs. before checking for queen acceptance. Most queens will be laying within 24 hrs. It is easiest to look for eggs rather than the actual queen.