[Tommy Hodge]

I installed a package of bees last week and apparently they killed the queen when she was released. Upon first inspection she was no where to be found…no eggs, no larvae...the supplier will replace the queen but I would rather introduce one of my queens raised from my own stock of overwintered queens. I have two newly mated queens raised from cells I pulled from one of my strong hives about 4 weeks ago. How would you introduce one of these queens that best suits this situation. By the way, this package was very aggressive at installation and have found it to be very aggressive upon subsequent visits to the bee yard…I get buzzed standing several feet away. I have 3 other hives in the yard where I can sit right next to the hive with no problem. Probably a good thing this colony is getting requeened but I don't want them to kill the new queen either…what are your tried and true methods of introduction?

 

[camero7]

Make sure there is not a virgin in the hive before you do anything... they'll kill any new queen if you have one. I would bet there is one in there.

 

[cg3]

A virgin loose in a package is not unusual. Hard to spot, though.

 

[Michael Bush]

>How would you introduce one of these queens that best suits this situation.

Like the others said, if there is a virgin the hive they will likely kill her no matter what you do... but assuming they are queenless, a candy release works fine under most conditions.

 

[Tommy Hodge]

Thanks for the advice…think I'll give them another week or so then inspect again for eggs, larvae or queen…if there is a virgin I suspect there is a chance she could still get mated…maybe they will calm down a bit as well...

 

[AR Beekeeper]

Put in a frame of eggs/larvae and see what they do about starting queen cells. In any case it will help boost the package until there is a laying queen.