[tabby]

Hi,
How long should I wait before adding my new queen to a split?
The split was removed from the old hive this morning and I was told to wait a day, but it would be much easier to put the queen in tonight. Would the new split be receptive to the queen that soon or should I wait until tomorrow?

thanks,
tabby

 

[warmbees]

A new split isn't "Queen Hungry" for at least 24 hours. It takes a bit for the lack of pherimones to be noticed. You can place a queen in a cage, immediately, and she will be safe, and the essence of the previous queen will fade. But make sure the new queen doesn't get out prior to 3 days time. They may not take to her immediately, but the environment is proper, so she will be in the right temperature zone and humidity to keep her well. It can be hard to distinguish whether the colony is trying to ball her through the cage, or simply accept her, so don't be fooled and think they accept her and then release her early. If they think she is foreign, they will cover her cage and try to smother her. But after 3 days, they have usually accepted her as the new smell, and it is safe to let her go.

I usually place a small drop of water on the cage periodically for them to get a little drink. It also helps the attendants and the queen, be able to consume the candy that is there to help keep them alive during this time. Bees will eventually start to feed them through the screen when they accept them.

 

[tabby]

She doesn't have candy, but has a cork. I have her cage in a cup with a half dozen attendants that she came with. I drizzle sugar water in occasionally and also put a bit of honey in there.
I'm supposed to remove the cork and replace it with a piece of marshmallow when I put the cage in the hive.

 

[Slow Drone]

Within an hour or two they know they're queenless!You can set the cage on the topbar to tell if they ball the cage or are receptive by trying to feed her.

 

[Michael Bush]

Overnight if it's in your backyard. 2 hours if it's in a outyard you have to drive a long ways to get to...

 

[tabby]

I put her (in her cage with a marshmallow plug) in the hive an hour ago. We'll check in a day or two and see how it goes. I hope this works out - it's way cheaper than packages.