[dnelson]

This might sound silly but. I went to let my queens loose from the packages that I put in the other day, and somebodyinch: let one of the queens fly off into the wild blue.

Has anyone had that happen and had the blessing of finding that she returned to her kingdom? Or is she a lost cause should i be ordering a new one?:scratch:

 

[AmericasBeekeeper]

Sorry to hear that. Why would you go let the queen out? Don't you trust your bees to do it? Well it is not that expensive a lesson. You will learn patience waiting for the next queen.

 

[dnelson]

I have always removed the cork and let the bees do the job with no problems. but this time I left them sealed up and was going to go back a couple days later and let them out:doh: bad idea! So after that one I have just been removing the cork and putting the cage back.

 

[concrete-bees]

most likely she will come back - she cant survive on her own and she know that - so she might fly around a bit and come home - just close up the box and check in the morning-

i had a hive that had 10 queen cells in it and opened it to check on them and they where hatching out right then - one took off - i seen her and she took flight - being that she is a virgin she might come back - but just have to wait and see

most of the time they should come back --

i had one queen last year take flight and not come back - the next day i put a queen in and they killed that queen - after digging through frames i found the very small queen that flew off in the first place - i think bees kill queens faster then a match can burn a $20 bill

 

[dnelson]

You know, bees can burn a $20 pretty fast too!!:lpf:

 

[concrete-bees]

haha yeah for sure!!!!!

 

[Beeslave]

She may come back but where will she go. She doesn't know where her home is. Plug the hole on your queen cages with a small marshmallow. The bees will chew that out in less than a day. Doing that you will avoid the problem with the queen flying away and prevent you from injuring her while putting that corkless cage back between the frames.

 

[dcross]

It happened to me once, she came back.

 

[Beeslave]

If you have 1 hive I can see her coming back. If there is 20 hives she will come back but probally not to the one you want. How does she know which hive is her's if she never flew out the entrance?

 

[KQ6AR]

I've heard several guys on the forum say they have had them, take flight circle & come right back within minutes.

 

[dcross]

I was in the middle of installing 8-10 packages when she took off. I left the cover off that hive until I was done for the day and when I inspected a few days later all hives were queenright. Nice to have some good luck for a change

 

[Jonathan Hofer]

It happened to me once, she came back.

Something similar happened to me as well. Wait a few days and check for eggs or larvae.

JH

 

[Fred Bee]

I had the same thing happen once...and fortunately...she flew back into the hive. Glad it worked out for you this time. The bees often teach us a lesson if we will only learn from them!

 

[StevenG]

I was requeening, and removing attendants and queens from the cage to mark the queen. Had one take off, never returned. had another take off, finally returned. Used an extra veil as a muff after that, until the muff I ordered arrived. Cheaper than replacing queens for old fumble fingers here. :doh:

 

[Jeffzhear]

In the future, wait a few minutes by the hive she flew off from. She may have oriented herself to you standing there, so if you leave, she may not find her way back. I've made the mistake in the past. Example: The candy is face down in the queen cage. A worker bee or two die and plug up the hole and she can't get out. After 3 days, you check and she is stuck in there, so you peel the screen back by pulling a staple and she takes off vs dives for cover within the hive. You stand there dumbfounded and you close things up and leave. She comes back, you are not there and she can't find her way home.

I wish you luck and hope she made it back. If you only have a hive or two the odds are probably better she will return. If the hive you were installing her in is in the middle of 20 others, you might not have as good of luck. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

[Ravenseye]

I don't always wait for a queen to be released. I often direct release, especially if the package and queen have been together for a while. The odds go up a little that she'll fly when you direct release but not too much.

I have had queens fly off. Last year, one flew out and, within a minute or two, arrived back at the landing board. If I hadn't been looking at the entrance, I wouldn't have seen her walk in and probably would have been trying to introduce another queen into that queenright hive!