How to introduce a queen

[junglebill007]

Okay....I'm still queenless (See S.O.Bs.Save our bees posting). Good news is Mr Singleton (local queen breeder) has two queens for me!

Okay, What is the best way to proceed?

Put her dead center of the brood nest (bottom box), or does it matter?

Should I just pull the plug and let her go on in, or should I let them free her? They've been queenless for 3-4 weeks now.

What happens if there is a non-laying virgin queen in there also?

I'm picking up the new queens this afternoon around 4pm. I'm excited to finally get thing right again. I sure will be more careful next time a do a split :eek:

[iddee]

http://www.beesource.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=2;t=005351;p=1#0000 08

[Michael Bush]

>Okay, What is the best way to proceed?

I'd do a candy release or a push in cage.

>Put her dead center of the brood nest (bottom box), or does it matter?

Brood nest.

>Should I just pull the plug and let her go on in

No.

> or should I let them free her?

Yes.

> They've been queenless for 3-4 weeks now.

They may have a laying worker by now.

>What happens if there is a non-laying virgin queen in there also?

They will kill the new one.

[junglebill007]

Thanks iddee and MB. Didn't see that post before I started typing :D Gotta start searching first...then question!

Thanks again!

[RAlex]

Would it be better to shake the hive out and then reinstall the frames with the queen cage in the hive so that if there is a laying worker she might not get back to the hive? Just a thought ...Rick

[Michael Bush]

>Would it be better to shake the hive out and then reinstall the frames with the queen cage in the hive so that if there is a laying worker she might not get back to the hive?

First I'd look for triple or more eggs or some other sign of a laying worker. It's not that they WILL have one, it's just that after that long queenleess, you should check. A shake out of a large hive is a lot of work and a LOT of bees in the air. I'd skip it if you don't need to.

[PA Pete]

I had a very definite laying worker situation in a package that I'd previously been trying to coax back to queenright by introducing frames of brood every few days. Then Sunday a nearby beek gave me a couple of swarm cells, so I decided to just shake them and make up a nuc with my other hives.

Since I'd never shaken a hive, it was pretty neat seeing all those bees in the air. I can only imagine shaking out a strong hive - wow!

If you do shake it, here's a tip - shake them out and away from you - not on your shoes :eek:

Good luck

-Pete

[garyl]

I ordered three queens from Betterbee a while back. The quoted a May12 ship date, but they arrived a week ago with an overnight warning from UPS. Anyway, I had three queens with no prep time, so I pulled a quick split in hopes of using it as an emergency "queen bank". The two I put into other homes the next day have released her, but the origional "bank" split did not. They have started a couple queen cells of their own, and seemed ugly toward the caged queen. If they decided to off her, wouldn't they have starved her and her helpers within 7 days? With no place else to put her, I was forced to just pull the screen, let her in, and hope for the best. I hold little hope for her future. Just have to go in much later and see if they succeed in making a new queen, or should I be looking for eggs sooner?

[Yuleluder]

They have started a couple queen cells of their own, and seemed ugly toward the caged queen. If they decided to off her, wouldn't they have starved her and her helpers within 7 days? With no place else to put her, I was forced to just pull the screen, let her in, and hope for the best. I hold little hope for her future. Just have to go in much later and see if they succeed in making a new queen, or should I be looking for eggs sooner? Just steal a frame of eggs/brood from another hive and put her in there. No reason to let 15 dollars go to waste.

[HarryVanderpool]

Within the last couple of years, there was an article in the ABJ about laying workers.
They observed and marked the laying workers in a queenless hive, then they shook them out on the ground a short distance away like we all have been doing for years.
All of the marked laying workers returned to the hive.
The only time I shake out a hive is if I wish to loose a NEW virgin queen and then to requeen.
Then if the hive is broodless,we place two frames of sealed brood & adhereing bees with a frame of unsealed brood inbetween, dead center in the hive.
The queen cage is placed inbetween the unsealed brood and the sealed brood.
DO NOT POKE THE CANDY WITH A NAIL!
You want a slow release. Why worry about a day or two when in fact that time ups your odds?
We NEVER poke a hole in the candy, even in a normal requeen.
With all of that said, this year, I have not pulled the corks, and instead released the queens 4 days later.
WE have lost 2 out of 134. (that I know of tongue.gif )
:cool: