[greathorned]

I received 3 Buckfast Queens with workers at about 5PM tonight. The first question is how should I keep them positioned overnight? Should I lay it with the screen facing up in the air? Or should I stand it on end with the screen perpendicular to the shelf that it sits on? I have wiped a little water on the screens as advised by most beek's.

Then tomorrow should the candy be in the air or underneath the Bee's. I always thought it was underneath, but I see from an internet search that a respectable beek puts the candy in the air?????

 

[sqkcrk]

If you are keeping them on the kitchen table the screen should be up.

When you install them in your hive the candy end should be up so no bees in the cage die and block the entrance.

 

[allniter]

lay it flat with screen up in a warm room ----

put the cage in between 2 frames with screen up and candy end up just a little so if a worker dies it doesn't block the hole

 

[Colobee]

I've always just laid them flat on their backs in the envelope they come in. Screen side up. Up on the mantle away from direct light. I drip water onto the end opposite the candy, with a q-tip. This prevents the candy from getting to soft & runny. It's pretty dry here so I find them taking 2-3 drops 2 times a day if I can give it that often. They survive on less, but if they'll take it, I'll try to provide it.

I place mine in the hive with the candy side down, just in case it gets warm enough to melt. That way the queen can't be accidentally drown in a warm candy goo. I installed 4 Buckfast packages this week. They were made up Monday, arrived Tuesday, installed Wednesday. By today they had sucked down a half gallon of syrup each, and when I checked this afternoon, the queens had all been released.

Edit: As these were packages, there were no attendants.

 

[Slow Drone]

Candy up candy down that's a 50/50 situation. If the candy is down sure dead attendants can clog her exit but she'll still be alive. If candy is up you can drown a queen if the candy is soft or the weather is hot. Laying flat with screen down works safely but you can run into problems with comb starting out wrong. I'd rather deal with bad comb or dead attendants than a dead queen. A cage without candy and a marshmallow as a substitute, doesn't matter up down or what. A respectable beekeeper would explain each scenario that's what he'd do!

 

[sqkcrk]

What do you want explained Slow?

 

[Colobee]

How about ( Installed) flat, screen side down) just to throw in another. I've read it, done it - it also works.

 

[Slow Drone]

Colobee points out another way to introduce queens. That's the point there's not just one way of doing it. I tried to explain more than one way for intro and the down side of some that I've experienced. I'm not stuck in a rut as to how I intro queens. Merely pointed out the down side of hanging the cage candy up. Soft candy can run with to much moisture and too much heat and end result is a drowned queen. My biggest disasters in introducing queens has been candy up,I've done it that way in the past. Introducing queens in hot weather, July to be exact when it's awfully hot where I live, caused me to lose quite a few queens because of the candy drowning them. 1 drop of water a day is all they need in a queen cage 2 to 3 drops several times a day is overkill and not good for them. Install flat as Colobee describes or candy down either way you won't have to worry about a dead queen.