Push in queen induction cage

[sfisher]

I want to make some push in queen induction cages out of #8 hardware cloth.

I am going to make the cages 5"x7" put I dont know how deep to make the edges?

And approx. how deep do you push it in the wax, and how much room do you leave for the queen?

Thanks Steve

[rweakley]

I have plans in PDF format if someone can tell me how to attach them here or link to them. I have a photobucket account, but last time I tried to upload a pdf there it didn't work if I recall. I will to email them if people are interested.

Rod

[sonnypemberton]

Interested

[sfisher]

I have another question about this

Does the queen need any type of queen candy to feed off of while she is in the cage?

[sfisher]

Rod I sent you a pm.

[deknow]

A mated queen should be fed by the workers...no need for food. If you do this with a virgin (I can't imagine why, but I can imagine someone doing it), she may or may not be fed by the workers...best I can tell, the closer the virgins are to some open brood, the more likely they are to be fed.

deknow

[JDA]

this video has how to build one. there are three projects but the introduction cage is one of them:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wz7DDG2wyaY

[Michael Palmer]

I use push in cages all the time when re-queening production colonies and/or nucs.

5x7 is a good size. Make the sides about 3/4"-1". Push cage into comb until it bottoms out at the comb mid-rib.

Remove old queen from colony. Choose a frame with emerging brood and nectar. Brush or shake off all the bees. Sit in the truck with windows up. Lay brood comb on your lap...towel under if you don't want nectar in your lap, too. Place cage on comb. Remove new queen from cage, and hold her by her wings. Lift end of cage and hold queen close to comb under cage until she grabs. Let her go and lower cage over her. She'll be running around under cage. Move cage around comb until it is centered over brood that is visibly emerging and a number of cells of nectar...you need both. No bees should be under the cage with her when you install it. Push cage into comb until it hits the foundation or mid-rib. You want enough room under cage so queen can move around freely. Replace comb in hive.

Pull cage on the third or fourth day. The brood under the cage will have emerged, and since they have never seen a queen, they will love the new queen as their own. They have nectar beneath the comb so the new queen will be fed. When you pull the cage, you'll notice that the queen is laying. That's the idea...to bring a non-laying queen into laying condition, and then releasing her to the hive population. Caged queens are not laying queens.

Occasionally, the colony will start emergency cells while the queen is under the cage. These will be removed by the bees once the new queen is laying...usually. I would bet some don't, and probably should be removed before releasing queen. Haven't made up my mind on this one, as I just started noticing this last summer after using the push in cage for a number of years.

[gkervitsky]

What MP said!

I will add that I have used them sized 2x2 to 4x7. I see the HCloth push in cage as standard item for the bee management box or bucket, I keep them in a manila envelope and craft them whenever HCloth scraps are available. I have witnessed queens there to greet emerging brood as they are coming out of their cells and helping herself to honey under the screen cage. A laying queen is rarely, if ever, rejected. Reducing the overall age of the colony, i.e., releasing in a nuc colony with only nurse bees and capped brood, will also increase the probability of success. I typically leave @3/8" space under the cage for mobility perhaps a little less.

[johno]

Hi guys,
I have made ascreen box 12x6 out of 1/8 hardware cloth with 1 inch sides, however i cut a flap out of the top right hand corner to enable me to slip in the queen cage after I had fitted the cage over capped brood and also over some of the honey stores on the frame, I used a deep frame. The screen box and the queen cage was also held in position with elastic bands so the queen and attendants were free with the capped brood, This was all removed 4 or 5 days laterwhen a lot of brood had emerged and the frame was quite full of eggs.
I tried something similar when I had 2 supercedure cellslast summer, I made a small screen box about 4x4 and covered one queen cell hoping to salvage a virgin Queen, unfortunately the queen did not emerge from that cell, maybe was not kept warm enough who knows.
Johno

[Joseph Clemens]

BTW, they're push-in queen introduction cages, you left the "tro" out of the word in your original thread title.

They work very well, though I haven't needed to use them ever since I nearly eliminated AHB from my apiaries. I do this by close monitoring and requeening as needed. Presently I requeen by removing their queen, then relocating the colony to be requeened, a day before inserting the new queen, in a cage with candy plug.

Apparently the push-in queen introduction cage would be able to provide a similarly queen-friendly environment without the need to relocate the colony to eliminate older, field bees. Ideally the new queen in her push-in cage would be placed over an area of some honey/pollen, and emerging worker brood.

[Michael Bush]

>And approx. how deep do you push it in the wax, and how much room do you leave for the queen?

She needs at least 3/8" in the clear to move easily and lay easily.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#pushincage
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesdoolitt...#ValuableQueen
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenre...htm#pushincage
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesbetterq...he-Comb%20Cage

[sfisher]

Thanks everyone.

Michael Bush Im not complaining but would it be hard to put a search option on your website.

[Michael Bush]

I keep meaning to... but you can go to google and put in something like this:
push in cage site:bushfarms.com

and it will search the site.

[JonnyBeeGood]

Rod,
I would be interested in the PDF file as well. Thanks!
Jon

[gkervitsky]

No pdf is needed folks, this is pretty simple stuff:
1. Cut square of HW cloth;
2. snip sides, and;
3. fold.

http://www.glenn-apiaries.com/QnIntroInstr.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV9IhH6SeYo