Never direct release the queen!!!!!!!

[psisk]

On anothe thread I had dropped a queen cage to the screen bottom. I just left it there due to having no PPE on. Went in today and she hadnt been released. I opened the screen and put the cage close to a frame of drawn comb. She kept trying to go up instead of down so I opened the screen a little more. The reason you do not direct release is that she can FLY!!!!!! She immediately flew out of the hive and made a couple of circles around me. I tried to catch her. That was probably comical to see. So I stood still about five minutes but couldnt stand it. I got in front of the hives in case she landed on the wrong hive. After about five more minutes she landed on the right entrance and a worker started feeding her. She wandered around on the landing for what seemed like an eternity. I have one inch openings on my nucs so I tried to push her inside. She took off again. I nearly panicked. Waited around a few more minutes and she reappeared. I didnt mess with her this time. Until that is she started crawling under the hive. I ran and got my queen catcher and just happened to see her in the grass under the hive. caught her up and finally got her to walk out down between the frames. And that is why you shouldnt direct release a queen.

psisk

[gonzo]

lol!.... glad it worked out for you!

[Vance G]

I direct release a lot and I may be cursing myself, but I have never had one fly away. Maybe my way wouldn't be effective with a SBB and a large lower entrance. I pull several frames out of the middle and pop the cork or the screen and let her walk out with the opening into the dark under the frames. Works for me. They have been in the colony for three days previously of course.

[psisk]

That's the first time I ever had one wanting to fly so bad. Usually they will just walk out. Of course that is the first one that ever spent three days on the SBB.

psisk