Position of new queen cage

[beepop]

I just re-queened a hive. I placed the queen cage next to a full frame, capped with honey, and a new frame with just new foundation. I do not have new brood for her to be placed next to.

[Oldtimer]

That will be OK, long as you put it where the bees are.

You could check by just lifting the lid and having a look to see that the bees are clustering around the cage.

[beepop]

Thanks for the reply. I placed the queen cage on the bottom screened board with the cage screen facing up into the hive. That should give her plenty of contact with the hive population.

[Joseph Clemens]

As long as your nighttime ambient temperature isn't too low. If the temperature drops enough that the bees are encouraged to cluster, even a loose cluster around their brood, to keep it warm, the queen on the bottom board may be abandoned and get chilled. That is basically why most recommendations for placement of introduced queen cage is near the top of the brood nest, nestled between frames of brood. It gets her more attention and she won't be abandoned when the bees need to tend their brood.

[beepop]

If you have full frames of capped honey, it seems that the queen cage would not get attention if the screened side of the cage is next to the capped honey, thus preventing her from being examined by the worker bees. The apiary that i bought the queen suggested the screened board as the placement of the cage. I am in S.C. where the nighttime temps are now about 70-75 degrees.

[Oldtimer]

Hmm... Personally I'd go with Joseph, although I guess you had a better talk with the vendor so he had a good understanding of your hive, how strong it is etc.

It's correct you wouldn't want the cage facing capped honey but the cage positioned mid frame in some way that allows bee contact with the queen, to my mind, would have been better. But since you have no brood, hopefully the bees will go where the queen is.

Where you should go from here, is check the cage on day 4. If the queen is released, all's well. If it's not released, but the candy is nearly all chewed out, leave as is. But if there's still a fair way to go with the candy, move the cage to where the bees are clustering.