Mistakes

[colin.larmour]

Todays mistake - nice black mated queen, I’d have no patience so placed her into a roller cage to see how they would react. Seemed to be feeding her (sometimes you see what you hope to see). Went to move her into a roller loaded with fondant and dropped her into the hive. The bees balled her straight away, by the time I got her front legs were off. Learning here for me so thought I’d share.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Oh dear
Well you won’t do that again.

 

[colin.larmour]

That’s not guaranteed lol

 

[Amari]

Todays mistake - nice black mated queen, I’d have no patience so placed her into a roller cage to see how they would react. Seemed to be feeding her (sometimes you see what you hope to see). Went to move her into a roller loaded with fondant and dropped her into the hive. The bees balled her straight away, by the time I got her front legs were off. Learning here for me so thought I’d share.

A purchased queen? How long had the colony been queenless?

 

[colin.larmour]

A purchased queen? How long had the colony been queenless?

No my own queen and only a day

 

[Erichalfbee]

You can introduce a laying queen like that, immediately on dispatching the old queen. Though I’ve never had the courage to do that.

 

[Amari]

You can introduce a laying queen like that, immediately on dispatching the old queen. Though I’ve never had the courage to do that.

I introduce as soon as I kill the old Q but wait until next day before moving the tab from the cage.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I introduce as soon as I kill the old Q but wait until next day before moving the tab from the cage.

Likewise, although I don't like leaving it longer than a day before removing the tab

 

[colin.larmour]

I introduce as soon as I kill the old Q but wait until next day before moving the tab from the cage.

They were vicious I was in to the hive in an about thirty second and they had her two front legs off. Live and learn, but she was a good looking queen

 

[Erichalfbee]

They were vicious I was in to the hive in an about thirty second and they had her two front legs off. Live and learn, but she was a good looking queen

Nasty colonies are more problematic to requeen. Best done with a nuc.

 

[RichardK]

I'll share my similar total failure story too..... some weeks ago one of my queens was in the process of being superseded (she'd been a bit dodgy for some time). This was the second time supersedure seemed to be started, but the first time they ripped down the queen cell. I checked all the frames & only found one queen cell which I removed for use elsewhere. The next day I dispatched the incumbent queen & introduced my own home reared mated queen in a cage. All looked great, so I removed the tab and left them too it. 24 hours later, she'd been released & I couldn't resist a quick look for her.....how hard can it be to spot a marked queen. Couldn't find her from a quick look & closed it back up. The next day I decided to have a good look. No sign of my marked queen but I did find another young looking queen! It seems I'd missed a queen cell & the colony must have been running with 2 queens when I squished the old queen.

Frankly, gutted.

But I know I'll be a lot more careful next time.