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New package how soon should queen lay?

2K views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Tubobutter 
#1 ·
Installed a new package 9 days ago. Checked three days ago and queen just out. Did a full check today and no brood. Have installed two packages before and seems like the queen was laying by now. How long should I wait before doing something? I have a one year old hive which is thriving well. Can I use that one to raise a new queen if need be? Or just order a new one?

Today I thought I saw an open queen cell?? Is that possible this early without signs of any other laying?

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

K
 
#3 ·
Caged queens can take a couple weeks to start laying if you were unfortunate enough to get one that was banked for a while or didn't get to lay long enough before being caged. If you do transfer eggs, you don't need to transfer bees with it. That way you won't be moving a queen. Of course moving eggs can lead to the othe colony thinking their queen is slacking and can get here superceded. So make sure there are lots of eggs before transferring any. I always release my queens after three days. They start laying faster that way.
 
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