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Will bees keep queen warm

1085 Views 4 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  thomas
Hello i got a new queen today my old one stopped laying and i do not have any drones flying yet and they built several queen cells and i cut them out. So i added a frame of capped brood and some young larvae to them an they did not build any More i looked the hive over and the old queen was not in there so i put in my new queen in and they went right for the cage and now it is getting cool and i have a shim on top and i laid the queen cage on top of the frames now i just checked them and bees were all on the screen side and they have formed a small cluster around her i think they are feeding her will they keep her warm during the nite or will the heat from the cluster keep her warm until they let her out.The screen is sort of laying on it's side some of it is down between the frames and how long will it tak for them to eat the candy out for her to be released.


THOMAS
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You should have her(in cage) pressed into the comb inside were the workers will cluster. Screen side down(exposed between frames) and the candy end in a upward position. If it is warm at night and the colony is strong you can have her like you got her but not when it gets cold.
Clustered on the screened side.... How are they reacting to the screen on the cage? Are they "clinging" to it or just walking over it? Can you easily brush them off or do they cling to the cage tightly? When you introduced the cage did you see the reaction of all of the bees? Did they all congregate on the top and start fanning? Most probably will do well but the behavior of the bees......???
Could take 3 or 4 days to release her. I usually use a small nail and punch a hole in the candy, some use direct release. I also hang the cage down a couple inches between the frames so the bees can cluster around her. If its not super cold the heat from the bees should keep her warm enough.
If they were not queenrite they should accept her.
Good luck.
Thanks for the help they are mostly young bees that has come out of the cells when i put her in they just walked over the cage and did not try to sting her thru it they were feeling with thier antenneas and when i took alook inside later they were on the screen feeding her
they did not show any kind of anger toward her when i placed it on the frames they came toward her in a group and when i moved it they followed it.Before i placed her in they were not making no sound but now the whole hive has a soft humming noise they were not active at all just sitting around but after i placed her in they began moving and bringing in some pollen.


THOMAS
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