Attendant Bees

[Beetime]

I am requeening a hive that did not except the queen I put into it seveal weeks ago. Is it a good idea to release the attendant bees along with the queen? Should I take them out?

[Let_it _Bee]

I was just reading some new posts on this very subject
http://www.beesource.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001973.html

[Beetime]

Well, I rechecked the hive I wanted to requeen and I found the queen. The hive wasn't Queenless after all! I didn't see any eggs. I think it is time to replace her.
How many days do I need to leave this hive queenless before I put the new caged queen?

[Michael Bush]

Sometimes it take some time for them to start laying. My guess is by the time you get a new queen this one will be laying. But you can always bank one of them or start a nuc.

[Beetime]

Michael,
I don't think the queen I found was the one I put in there. This queen looked much older (larger). So for safety I dusted her. I believe they killed the young queen. How long should it take for one of these young queens to start laying eggs? How can I bank one of these extra queens so I don't loose her. Someone had these two left over and they are eating that candy fast...no cork in the end better do something fast...lol
and no I'm not gonna let them fly around the bathroom....LOL How long does it take for the bees to figure out they are queenless? How long do I need to wait before I put the new queen in the hive?

[Michael Bush]

I always get rid of the old queen the day before. Overnight is sufficient for them to realize they are queenless. They seem to figure it out in 8 hours overnight than in 16 hours during the day. I just go for overnight. If you already got rid of the old one, I'd put the new one in soon. Otherwise they will start trying to raise one.

If you want to bank one queen, I'd buy a nuc. If you run deeps you can get a two frame nuc from Betterbee. http://www.betterbee.com/products.asp?dept=306

If you run mediums you can buy a five frame nuc from Brushy Mt. http://www.beeequipment.com/search.asp

You can either buy just a box #695 or the whole thing with two boxes #682.

Put a frame of bees and a frame of honey and the queen in and relase her like you would to a hive.

For more than one queen, I built a shim that is the size of a nuc but ¾” thick and put queen cages with the wire down to keep them for several days or weeks before introducing them. Just put three fames of bees and two of honey to start the nuc. Wait overnight and add the queens. I've heard that it's difficult to get a queen bank to accept a queen after having several like this, so I've always shaken them out in front of another hive and put the frames in the other hive when I'm done.