Read this: Successful Queen Introduction tips..
Unless you are introducing a queen under unusual circumstances, the method described in the link is how most people have excellent results. Your idea of delayed release is sometimes favored when there have been prior rejections of queens such as into a laying worker hive. However, delaying release in normal circumstances may actually increase hive stress. My advice is not to mess with success. Experiment when there is a reason to. J

 

There sure is a lot of variables that can influence the success of queen introduction. 1. race of bees in colony, 2. race of introduced queen. 3. how long the introduced queen was in lay before being pulled and how long has she been off lay. 4. how long has the receiving colony been queenless and what are its age groups makeup. 5. What is the state of flow and what has the recent past weather been.6. How large is the colony? 7. How certain are we that there is not another existing queen or virgin, laying workers, non laying but pheremone producing queen etc. Anyone want to add some other factors I neglected.

Giving longer exposure time to a caged queen being introduce may improve odds in some of the proposed scenarios but not others. I think that many attempted introductions are initiated that are doomed because of inadequate investigation.

A person could certainly do a lot of experimenting and documenting to put together all the things that factor into success or failure.

 

There sure is a lot of variables that can influence the success of queen introduction.

Everything Frank just said.

I prefer to have a queen out and laying in an hour, but I wouldn't necessarily try that with a queen I got through the mail. Within the framework of what Frank said, having a queen that laid an egg in one colony a few minutes ago, and dropping her into a totally queenless colony during a flow when the grouchy foragers are busy is easy. Spraying some sugar water or creating a distraction makes it easier (some folks use heavy smoke).

If I don't know how they will treat her, I'll get one frame with a moderate amount of nurses walking around, and release her on that frame away from the hive and see how they react. If she gets groomed, fed, and kinda lays down and lets them dose each other with pheremones, then I'm home free. If I see doubled-up workers on top of her trying to sting her, then one of the things Frank mentioned is off and I get her immediately.

Disclaimer: I've probably introduced 50-100 queens so I'm not an expert, but I don't think I'll ever leave one in a box 7 days unless I'm forced to bank her. Definitely not for an intro. I think the longer they are forced to shut down egg-laying, the harder it's going to be. That said, the queens I sell leave in a queen cage with about a 3-day release of candy, so I'm not suggesting anything that's not pretty common.

 

Thank you very much.

 

Harry's instructions are pretty comprehensive and are what someone should do who is introducing many queens on an ongoing basis. You could not afford the time to assess all the possible conditions for failure and have to play the odds. His method would give the best bang for the buck! Enough time is allowed before assessment, that either the introduced queen has been accepted or enough time has evolved that one resulting from a cell started by the colony will have emerged and mated. If you are installing an expensive breeder queen or even some selected open mated genetics, I thing there are some moves that could guard your investment a bit better.

Below is a link to posts by Beemandan that I found interesting in regard to queen introduction. I have been victim to some of the failure points; probably have lots more to check off before I can say I know all the ways to fail at this

Search results for query: queen acceptance

www.beesource.com

 

Yes, you would get better acceptance rates with a week before release. I read an extensive study years ago that found releasing a caged queen on day 10 gave 100% acceptance. I can't remember the exact percentages for days below 10, but 7 was far better than the standard 3 days.

 

For 3 years straight, installing 100-200 per year, I've averaged 87% success. Never worse than 85%, never better than 91-92%. Usually I'm in a hurry and miss a started queen cell on the fails.

These are queens shipped overnight, installed on a flow, into splits prepped a day or 2 before and set above an excluder, or nucs made 3 days in advance and cleared of queen cells at insertion. Just place the cage level in between 2 frames of brood with the candy exposed, and check back no sooner than 10 days.

 

The longer the better seems to be an approach...
This works fine when you have to maintain hundreds of hives and often time the mass queen release with the main flow. Great.

Well, as usually, the situational context is completely omitted.
Maybe one indeed does not have 10-20-30 days to wait - then what?
One thing is you are a commercial and have hundreds of queens to release, but don't have time to tinker about.
Another thing is you are a backyard-er with two hives but have time to do the project (but can not afford to loose two weeks of queen work as it may cost you a hive).

I have released queens within 1-2 days and had no issues.
The key - create a small unit (say 2-frames) with only young bees (a quick queen-less shook swarm and well supplied, one example).
The queen can be safely released into that sanctuary in 1-2 days (after observing, obviously) and start laying ASAP (no 10-20-30 days of idle time).
Once the laying is ongoing - combine with the actual queen-less target (usual precautions), but the queen is already laying.

 

Good queens are expensive and hard to get. They're TF, hygienic, and worth breeding from. I'm picky. These will cost $25-60 each before shipping. I might get the extra fancy ones (>$200) in the distant future.

install:

1. good nutrition at all times starting with water when it arrives

2. create a small unit (say 2-frames) with only young bees

   It must have honey, pollen, and a place to lay. Ideally it has some brood to get nurse bees to stay. Its hard to find that in 2 frames. 3-5 frames is good.
3. Find a frame for a push in cage. Remove the bees. Put it in the install room.
4. Install the queen in such a way that it can't fly away. Indoors is best. Attendants might be fine. I don't know. They will get outnumbered by emerging brood.
5. Put the queen frame in the nuc.

If I had to install 200 queens and save time, I'd make them. The install would be easy. Just move the queen from a mating nuc to a queenless hive in an area with nurse bees. It stays plump and doesn't stop laying to go in a cage. If I had to cage it, I would still release it that day because it wouldn't be in the cage long.

 

I've mentioned this technique before, and it went down then like the proverbial lead balloon - and so I reckon it's pretty safe to predict that the same will happen again now - but to hook onto what Greg has just posted ...

When it comes to queen introduction, commercial operators work on a percentage basis - and quite right too - in which levels of success need to be balanced against the time spent on queen introductions. Amateurs however require more of a 100% guarantee (especially if they only have one queen available), and can afford to spend far more time with introduction in order to achieve success.

I've never been very impressed with the idea that some 'magic figure' exists with regard to the number of days required for acceptance, and much prefer to see for myself that the queen has been accepted before deciding to release her - that is, to observe and to act accordingly.

My own method of direct introduction is based on: The Knight/Taber/Dews Method of Queen Introduction except that I leave the attendants in place as their removal appears to make little difference. Then each day I test for acceptance by running a cocktail stick or toothpick gently over the cage. If the stick meets resistance due to the bees gripping the cage, then the cage is replaced until the following day when it undergoes testing again. When the bees finally lift their legs obligingly in order to allow the stick to pass underneath them, that is taken as a sign that they have ceased hostilities and have finally accepted the presence of the new queen. However, I always allow a further day's delay before releasing as a measure of 'insurance'.

I cannot claim the high numbers of introduction experienced by commercial guys, but I've not had a single failure yet with this system. Although I made-up dedicated queen intro kit similar to that of Knight, Taber and Dews, I've also used a coleslaw carton ex. supermarket within which to contain a queen cage held over a top cover feed hole, with equal success.
'best
LJ

Apparently I'm not allowed to say cocktail on this forum ... LOL

 

If the stick meets resistance due to the bees gripping the cage, then the cage is replaced until the following day when it undergoes testing again.

Yes, I am aware of the "resistance testing" - a well known test.
Though maybe I was doing it wrong by just using a pinky to brush the bees away (vs. a match stick).
Anyhow, last year I misread the bees once and took the NO for the YES (missed a virgin).
How did that happen? LOL

That one was completely on me, but not much was lost there queen-wise (a benefit of small but still mass queen production in the backyard - you afford to waste some to the experimentation).

A valuable lesson was learned - release the queen onto flatly laying comb, so to have a chance to grab her back if the hostilities are observed.
Once she drops between the frames - forget-about-it.

 

I wonder how many feel that the JZBZ queen cage with the removable "door" to allow workers into the cage makes a difference in acceptance? J

 

Will it make a difference? Yes. It will doom you to failure most likely. The whole point of a candy introduction is to protect the queen until the workers in the hive get used to her. Don't let them in. Let them eat out the candy and release the queen.

 

Do you think it will improve odds also by starting with the queen in cage installed on a smaller nuc instead of full hive?

 

The whole point of a candy introduction is to protect the queen until the workers in the hive get used to her. Don't let them in. Let them eat out the candy and release the queen.

I leave the candy taped for three days, giving them a little more time. Haven't lost one yet.

 

Mini marshmellows for me!

 

So i wondered if you kept caged queens in a full week instead of only 3 days would you get better survival rates?

I'm familiar with the basics, but just want to do anything possible to boost the survival rates of queen installs, and stress induced queen rejections. Also I'm very curious and probably overthinking things.

But experiments are fun.

If it meant sacrificing four more days of the season beyond the normal install 3 day period to get more solidity it would be interesting to find out.

In my experience, tape the candy side shut with electrical tape wrapped around the cage till it sticks to itself (tape always sticks to tape better than tape to wood or tape to plastic) give yourself a release tab at the end of the tape to make life easier when removing the tape. I’ve had bees release the queen within two days and kill her. So now I always tape.
Assuming you have brood with fresh eggs in the hive, Leave the caged (taped) queen in for 4 or 5 days. (Clarify: Day zero is the day she is introduced to the hive ). On Day four or five, go through the hive and shake the bees from the frames so you can see any potentially started queen cell. Destroy every single queen cell they may have started. You need to make them hopelessly queen less to want to accept a different queen as they will prefer their own. At this point take the tape off and let the bees chew her candy out. Check back on Day 7 to be sure they did!

 

With some types of cage you cant tell how much of the candy is left. I had on queen released inside of two hours. Leaving the cap on or taping over it for several days before letting the hive bees at it is good insurance. I dont know what seems to tempt us to rush the process.

Are some lines of bees slower to accept queens, especially if of a different type?