[NewbeeInNH]

I installed a package 30 hrs. ago. It's been beautiful weather, but I see it's going to rain for the next 3 days, so I took my chances and thought MAYBE she was out of the queen cage by now and I could put in the missing frame and relax about it. But when I peeked in there, there was such a cluster on the queen cage I couldn't even see through it. I tried brushing bees off, but they were pretty glued on. Does that mean they have not accepted the queen yet and are trying to kill her, or that they're trying to take care of her and all is well? Or can you not tell.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Good, I feel better then. I was afraid maybe they were going to successfully kill her. I won't bother them again until the rainy weather is over. Yup, the candy cork has been popped, they just haven't gotten thru to her yet.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Good to know AR Beekeeper. I won't be going in there till the rainy days are over, and by then, she'll either be out and dead, or out and alive... This was a Russian queen delivered with Italian bees, so I hope there's not another queen in there, because then I just bought an Italian package.

If after a few days there are no eggs/larvae, I'll pull a frame of eggs from the other hive and they'll have to raise their own queen.

Interestingly, when I looked at the queen during installation, I thought her abdomen looked a little small. Maybe she's not well mated and they know that?

Time will tell... By the way, this bee delivery was delayed 6 weeks from Georgia, so their supply could have been crunched to begin with.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Deb, I found the video. Hmm. Very frustrating, if I was sold a package with a queen that would not be accepted. I really don't know what else I can do except wait out the weather and then see if she's still alive. They were definitely sticking to the queen cage, I couldn't scrape them off (VERY GENTLY) with the hive tool. If she's dead in 3 days, I'll just have to rush a frame of eggs in there and hope for the best. Maybe check for any brood first in case there could be a queen already running around in there.

They weren't balling the queen cage when I removed her from the package and installed her, so maybe there's still hope...

Can't wait till I have enough hives through splits and never have to go the package route again.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Judging from what I've been hearing, unless I'm just listening extra hard this year, this is sounding like a more common experience than not... I'm wondering whether, due to weather or commercial pollination damages or just a crunch to get packages out, their queens (in southern packages) are just not mating well this year. Especially since, like I said, this package was delayed SIX WEEKS this spring already.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

AstroBee - I'd go in there, but it's drizzly and 56F right now - if they didn't hate her before, they'd definitely hate her if I went back in there... But you think I should go in anyway and just pull the queen cage out and bring it in the house? Keep them fed with some drops of water and the candy plug?

Hey, if I can get TWO queens out of this package, that would be a bonus. But if there's a queen running around in the package, she could even be a virgin queen... how can I find out without totally disrupting them and making them angry?

I don't know, it's a real toss up - whether to disrupt them in cold, wet, cloudy weather, or just let them do what they want with that caged queen...

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Ugh. Decisions. I noted they were stuck like glue to the queen cage in my first note here, before I knew that meant aggression, so I can't really argue with myself. Is there a chance it was just too soon to go in there?

Maybe I should peek in today and see if there's been any improvement in their attitude. It's been 24 hrs. since I last looked.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

OKAY I MADE A DECISION. I went out to the hive and opened it up. They're still all over the queen cage, I could brush them off but they were bound and determined they were not going to leave her alone, they came right back. But at least I was able to see the queen and attendants. She's still alive and moving all over, and they haven't made much progress eating thru the candy plug. I checked the frames, especially the center open and drawn out frames (I have several side full frames of honey in there - doubt a queen would be trying to lay in honey) and I did not see any sign of a queen.

So I closed it back up and I'm not looking at it again until Saturday, when the weather finally clears and gets warm. I will cross my fingers that she will be out and laying by then, and that no other queen is present.

The colony sure does look happy, bees covering all the frames and sucking down all those nice honey frames I put in there... they must love that. They are also building comb quickly on the one or two foundationless I stuck in there.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Did you happen to notice if the bees on the cage were feeding the queen? In my experience, this is nearly a definitive sign that they are going to accept her.

I tried to look closely at the bees surrounding the cage. My eyesight isn't great and then the veil makes it hard to see clearly, so I really couldn't tell anything. They could have been feeding, they could have been biting, I'm not sure.

Crossing fingers, time will tell now.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

If anyone is still reading here, I found a good source that talks about colony behavior towards a new caged queen:

http://www.pedigreeapis.org/biblio/artcl/WAMhostile97en.html

Particularly the section: "Hostile Worker Behavior Displayed Towards the New Queen"

Here, it seems that it's fairly common for workers to ball the queen cage AT FIRST and try to kill the queen. But as the days go on, that balling should end and they should have accepted her, unless it doesn't and they kill her on release.

So the fact that I checked on them too early - after one day - probably only indicated that they were still in hostile mode. I'll bet by Saturday they will be singing a different tune. We'll see.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Colobee - thanks for the links. Sounds like Russians into Italians may take a longer introductory period.

Kicking myself for checking on them the day after install! Oh well, live and learn.

Once she's up and running, the Italian line will die out, and then they should all be peaceful.

I say she's Russian, but I don't know if the breeder was one of the pure Russian breeders, she might have some mix in her, don't know. She was sold as a Russian.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Here's Michael Palmer's queenlessness test:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RX3BgnOkozs

 

[NewbeeInNH]

I never fooled with the "candy plug." I removed the actual cork, put my gloved hand over the opening, set the cage gently and face-up onto the bottom of the hive (yes, right on top of "all those bees"), and closed-up. At my earliest future convenience, I removed the now-empty cage.

According to THE BOOKS, she'd be dead. You must've just been lucky.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Oh, you beekeepers are a contrary bunch...

 

[NewbeeInNH]

UPDATE: Opened the new hive today and saw the queen. PHEW!!! They didn't kill her after all.

So if it looks like your bees are aggressively balling the queen cage after 30 hrs., don't be too alarmed.

 

[NewbeeInNH]

Thank you!