Killing queens

[MrB]

Something i don't look forward to, but there is sure to be a time when uniting colonies perhaps or replacing old queens that a queen needs to be killed.
just wondered about how you all would do this?

Thanks

 

[plumberman]

Quick squish on head is the painless option - the bolder you are, the less she will suffer.

 

[Biddly]

I went to a talk by Ron Hoskins the other month and he said ' never waste a queen '. He squashes her on a post so that her pheromones may attract swarms. He told a story about a island, swarm and a boat mast. So i suppose you have a sacrificial post in the vicinity of the apiary or garden.

 

[enrico]

if you are really squeamish then just put her in a clip and put the clip in the freezer.
E

 

[MrB]

if you are really squeamish then just put her in a clip and put the clip in the freezer.
E

its not that i am squeamish, just wondered how others did it.

I killed one last year but not to sure of the method i used.
i crushed her under a crown of Th**nes and then covered her with blue paint!

 

[drstitson]

squish on suitable swarming station eg post or low branch or bait hive.

just make sure you don't touch face/delicate parts afterwards as you may get a surprise later.

 

[greatbritishhoney]

I did once hear someone say that if you freeze a queen you can use her as a method of finding the live queen in your colony.
Take her out of the freezer, put her in the hive. Check after half an hour and the live queen will be somewhere on the same frame as the dead one.

Have never tried it myself, sounds like a bit of a faff.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

A quick squish (ideally on a bait lure post) has to be the most humane and quickest.

Clip and freezer sounds like a method of tourture!

 

[malawi2854]

Clip and freezer sounds like a method of tourture!

Indeed - that sounds rather barbaric - squishing with finger or hive tool seems like the best approach.

 

[susbees]

Indeed - that sounds rather barbaric - squishing with finger or hive tool seems like the best approach.

If it is then we need to review how we prepare samples for disease etc too.

 

[malawi2854]

If it is then we need to review how we prepare samples for disease etc too.

It comes down to practicality in the end - for samples, they will need them... "whole"... so freezing is likely the most practical option - gassing is the best option - but wholly impractical for individual bees, of course!

I had a friend who studied fish pain responses (all sounds rather unpleasant I know!), he did it for some group of vets or something - anyway, the generally accepted practice to kill fish was to freeze them.
Following his study, it was discovered that the fish felt rather high levels of pain for quite a long time before it died - obviously bees are different, but I still can't imagine freezing is the best thing, if you're just squishing to get rid of her.

 

[Pookiesbees]

I had to remove my old queen last night in readiness for the arrival of a new,mated one from Hivemaker. Didn't know how to dispose of her so put her in the freezer, following the advice of my sage supplier, and promptly burst into tears! This bee keeping malarky is thrilling and quite emotional at times!

 

[goodbobby]

laurel killing jar

I was told by a bee inspector running a course I attended that a "killing jar" could be made using cut up green laurel leaves in an old honey jar. These release cyanide and the Q is put to sleep without violence! I cannot vouch for the effectiveness of this!

 

[plumberman]

Freezing would, IMO, be only acceptable in a cold blooded species where easy access to veins to allow administration of lethal doses of barbiturates is not possible and there is no way of instantly incapacitating neural tissue.; small reptiles come to mind.

If you are going to do any histology ( looking at cell structure) freezing is useless as it will destroy the cell structure.

Sorry folks, but bold instant crushing....

 

[greatbritishhoney]

Squashing is the only sensible option really. It's very quick if done correctly. Any other method is purely to assuage the conscience of the beekeeper because they don't want to be directly connected to the death.
It's a bit like people who eat meat but burst into tears when they see a rabbit being shot.

 

[grahambee]

squish on suitable swarming station eg post or low branch or bait hive.

just make sure you don't touch face/delicate parts afterwards as you may get a surprise later.

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=3986&stc=1&d=1305920717

 

[dpearce4]

if the queen has been frozen can you still get the pheromones by squeezing her or is there some otherway of getting some out of her for attracting swarms.

 

[hallshoney]

I find .22 rimfire or at least a 12 bore ok.Putting on the blindfold is a right pain. lol.