capturing the queen then

[citrus]

seen quite a few 'queen' holding cages on the net

basically looking to try a demarree at some point so need get hold of something idiot proof..to use for the time while I sort out a demarree

any recommendations

or any household objects that do the same thing ?

 

[Finman]

.lift the frame with queen into the demaree box.

Normal way to pick the queen from comb is to take queen's wings between fingers.
.
.

 

[enrico]

The secret is to be able to put your hand on it the moment you see the queen . If you look away to pick it up she will be gone. So..... You see her.....gently put one side of the frame on top of the hive to give you a free hand. If possible free up both hands but that is more difficult. The cheapest queen cage is an old 35 mm film cannister with holes in the lid. Gently tease the queen in and close the lid. Try and ignore any bees round her, just concentrate on the queen. Of course the easiest way to move the Queen is to move her on the frame she is on......don't use a scissor clip unless you can afford to squash her! There is an art to using them but one mistake and......no queen! bare hands? Pick her up by the wings.
E
Sorry finman, I was writing it at the same time as you!

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

When you find the queen, put her, and the frame she's on into the bottom 'empty' box, job done

 

[citrus]

The secret is to be able to put your hand on it the moment you see the queen . If you look away to pick it up she will be gone. So..... You see her.....gently put one side of the frame on top of the hive to give you a free hand. If possible free up both hands but that is more difficult. The cheapest queen cage is an old 35 mm film cannister with holes in the lid. Gently tease the queen in and close the lid. Try and ignore any bees round her, just concentrate on the queen. Of course the easiest way to move the Queen is to move her on the frame she is on......don't use a scissor clip unless you can afford to squash her! There is an art to using them but one mistake and......no queen! bare hands? Pick her up by the wings.
E
Sorry finman, I was writing it at the same time as you!

ha ha ... ok will start practicing putting the lid on a 35mm film container with one hand now then !!

but take the frame and into the demarree box looks the winner .... just still need to inspect that for qc's so still scope for the Q doing a runner !

 

[birdsandbees]

if you move the frame with her on just be careful she doesn't drop off! had it happen to me the other week, luckily she has a fluorescent orange disc on her so easily seen.

for me having gone through trials of clips and one handed queen catchers, generally I pick her up by her wings as the others said, I also agree that often when you take your eyes off her for a second to grab something she's gone again when you look back

 

[Amari]

if you move the frame with her on just be careful she doesn't drop off! had it happen to me the other week, luckily she has a fluorescent orange disc on her so easily seen.

for me having gone through trials of clips and one handed queen catchers, generally I pick her up by her wings as the others said, I also agree that often when you take your eyes off her for a second to grab something she's gone again when you look back

Yes, two weeks ago I was demonstrating to two newbies how to catch the queen in the one-handed job and mark her. One of the newbies exclaimed " You've squashed her!"
Sadly he was right.

 

[For want of a better word]

Once captured clip one wing... then she will not fly off very far!

 

[Beefriendly]

And if you can't find the queen...shake all the bees into the bottom demaree box and let them sort themselves out.

 

[mjt68]

Empty matchbox is another easy cheap option, but they're opaque.

 

[enrico]

The biggest tip I can give you is to inspect the crown board and/or the queen excluder for the queen when you remove them and before you put them somewhere else. Easy to miss her on the QE and put it on top of a super. Next thing you know, eggs in the super and no queen in the brood box!!!!!
E

 

[madasafish]

The biggest tip I can give you is to inspect the crown board and/or the queen excluder for the queen when you remove them and before you put them somewhere else. Easy to miss her on the QE and put it on top of a super. Next thing you know, eggs in the super and no queen in the brood box!!!!!
E

Been there , done that..

If really desperate to find the queen (usually to squish her and requeen), wait for good day when bees flying strongly. Remove supers, Move brood box to another stand 2 meters away (with floor and CB). Place empty brood box on original stand and replace supers.
Wait 5 minutes.

The flying bees will return to the original stand with empty brood box and the brood box with queen will have far fewer flying bees in it. Finding a queen is - in theory!- much easier (and if they are bad tempered less stressful to the beekeeper.)

 

[citrus]

And if you can't find the queen...shake all the bees into the bottom demaree box and let them sort themselves out.

presses like button

 

[Finman]

.
If I do not find the queen, I take another time, and look for the queen.

It must be a bad panic I start to shake bees from combs.

 

[Beefriendly]

.
If I do not find the queen, I take another time, and look for the queen.

And when another time fails to spot her you panic....or more likely they have already swarmed whilst waiting for you to take another look.

 

[Finman]

And when another time fails to spot her you panic....or more likely they have already swarmed whilst waiting for you to take another look.

What ever, but I do not start to shake bees. It happens once in 10 years if happens. So far I have found my queens.
.
I do not even mark my queens.

 

[Beefriendly]

Good for you mate.
Bit asinine to assume everybody else is as good as you at spotting queens though!

 

[Finman]

Good for you mate.
Bit asinine to assume everybody else is as good as you at spotting queens though!

It is your assine assumption.

Then everybody must shake their bees. To me it is the last option.

 

[Beefriendly]

. To me it is the last option.

Totally agree...it is why I wrote "If you cannot find your queen".

 

[oliver90owner]

Good for you mate.
Bit asinine to assume everybody else is as good as you at spotting queens though!

Really? You should read Finny’s post properly before making stupid comments like yours.