Could I have done more ?

[brent.roberts]

48 hours ago I killed the queen in a hive that was getting nasty, dropped her into the hive and proceeded to split the hive to make to new Russian queened hives. ( its been a long story )

The breeder of the Russians suggests extending the intro period of the new queen, particularly when making a big change in strains ( Carni to Russian )
and especially when doing it into a strong hive.

Well at dawn I put in the new queens in their candy plugged cages. We had a great afternoon of thunderstorms. Just a dusk I got home and made some candy to re-plug the ends to prolong the intro period. Couldn't find the smoker.

Could I have done anything else to get them really angry. It was like a tornado of bees. Never seen anything like it that wasn't something in a movie called Attack of the African Killer Bees.

Took 15 minutes and a long fast run in the Gator to get rid of them. No stings.

The good news is they were not balling the queen cages when I opened the hive tonight.

By the way, the breeder did mention to me that the Russian freshly mated queens take a few days longer than other lines to start laying, and not to be concered if I don't see new eggs as soon as she's out.

Boy do I love the good bee suit tonight.

[ June 29, 2006, 09:06 PM: Message edited by: brent.roberts ]

[iddee]

The best way to know how many bees are in a hive is to open it in stormy weather. You just have to count the stingers in your clothing and you will know exactly how many you had. Each and everyone of them will be out and after you.

Why did you drop her into the hive? That's a new one on me. Is it supposed to serve a purpose?

[Michael Bush]

I'd use a push in cage over emerging brood for the introduction.

[wbell]

Michael's way will yeild the best results, especially with Russians. My experience is that it takes at least 9 or 10 days to consistently introduce Russians successfully.