Me and my son are first time beekeepers. I built a top bar hive and installed a package of bees Saturday April 25th. WE pulled the cork on the candy and hung the cage in the middle of the hive. On Wednesday we went back to check on them and the queen hadn't been freed from the cage yet, so we pulled the cork on the non-candy end and let her lose in the hive. The following Saturday we went back and there were only about 25 bees left in the hive. I'm trying to track down another package, but what can I do so they don't leave again? I've read about restricting the opening with what is basically a Queen excluder used to "exclude" her from the world, that is keep her in the hive.
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