new queen arrived

[alan gilly]

queen arrived yesterday put her in the hive as instructed.the hive has not had a queen for over 4 weeks .i have been told old bees will not accept a new queen. what are your thougths

 

[kazmcc]

Does your cage have a refuge? Somewhere she can hide if they start nibbling her legs?

 

[Grub]

Hi

Had you tried a frame with eggs in 1st as sometime it can take longer than 4 weeks for a new queen to start laying only then would I introduce a new queen.
Also I find a nuc easier to get a queen accepted rather than a large colony.

Grub

 

[B+.]

queen arrived yesterday put her in the hive as instructed.

How were you instructed to introduce the queen?

Four weeks is a long time to be without a queen. Did you see multiple eggs in any of the cells (indicating that drone laying workers were present)?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I am assuming you KNOW the colony has no queen.

You can only try.
I see you have only the two hives. If you had more you could have made up a nucleus and introduced her to that, waited till she was laying then united. That would be a safer bet.
I presume she is in one of those yellow queen intro cages. In which case don't break the tab for a few days.
At four weeks you are on the cusp of having bees young enough to feed her.

 

[blacksheep]

Hi: Well I hope your luck is better than mine!I bought a new Queen to put in a cut out which I didn't get the queen due to the fact the owner wouldn't allow me to cut out the ceiling in the room they were in.
New Queen was in the cage for 4 days and I finally released her along with the attending bees.She dove in to the hive and headed to the bottom with several bees after her and they killed her right away.They had been Queen less for about a month and I think problem was I didn't have any nurse bee only foragers

 

[Erichalfbee]

New Queen was in the cage for 4 days and I finally released her along with the attending bees
Not long enough in my opinion.
In a long queen-less colony I like to keep queen caged for a week before snapping the tab off to let the bees eat the fondant.

 

[B+.]

I bought a new Queen to put in a cut out
New Queen was in the cage for 4 days and I finally released her along with the attending bees.She dove in to the hive and headed to the bottom with several bees after her and they killed her right away.They had been Queen less for about a month and I think problem was I didn't have any nurse bee only foragers

I assume you used the travelling cage as an introduction cage (with the attendants still inside)?
The age profile will certainly be an issue, but, using the travelling cage doesn't allow the queen to come back into lay or her pheremones to be distributed throughout the colony (the attendants solicit food through the bars and they feed the queen rather than the queen soliciting food from bees on the outside of the cage).
I use a wire mesh introduction cage as shown below. I remove attendants and position the cage over emerging brood with a little open honey. The queen is protected from over-enthusiastic workers while those that emerge invariably accept her as their queen. They feed and groom her so she comes back into lay (especially important if she has come through the post). After several days (3-10), I check for emergency cells before releasing the queen from the cage.
You could certainly have improved her chances of survival by adding an occassional frame of eggs/young larvae...even if you destroyed any emergency cells they created

 

[alan gilly]

she is in the yellow travelling cage. Definitely no eggs and there has been no brood for about 3 weeks, so no young bees

 

[alan gilly]

should i make a small nuce and can i with only one other hive

 

[Hachi]

I use a wire mesh introduction cage as shown below. I remove attendants and position the cage over emerging brood with a little open honey. The queen is protected from over-enthusiastic workers while those that emerge invariably accept her as their queen. They feed and groom her so she comes back into lay (especially important if she has come through the post). After several days (3-10), I check for emergency cells before releasing the queen from the cage.
You could certainly have improved her chances of survival by adding an occassional frame of eggs/young larvae...even if you destroyed any emergency cells they created

B+ Where did you get the wire intro cages please?

 

[B+.]

should i make a small nuce and can i with only one other hive

There will be no brood at all after 3 weeks without a queen. If you can find 2 frames of brood and a frame of food with adhering bees (plus a frame or two of drawn comb) you may just save the queen. At this time of year reduce the entrance to give them a chance to defend themselveas against robbers/wasps/etc.
Your colony without brood will be in serious trouble too.

 

[B+.]

B+ Where did you get the wire intro cages please?

I made it myself. Thornes supply the wire mesh.

 

[Into the lions den]

B+ Where did you get the wire intro cages please?

A plastic version is available from any stockist of Nicot products. We use them for all introductions of our own bred queens and they are close to 100% effective whereas the shipping cages give 85 to 90%. Cost only about 30p. (At least that's what they cost me in case lots. Knowing this country they will probably be about 3 quid retail!) Very effective bit of kit.

Have some wire mesh ones too at the back of the shed that were home made years back. Also some made from a wooden section sliced in half, with mesh fold over the top, and a short piece of plastic cable duct inserted through a bored hole as the candy tube. Not difficult to make.

 

[Erichalfbee]

A plastic version is available

ML do them too
http://www.mannlake.co.uk/beekeeping-supplies/product/QC-140.html

 

[Hawklord]

Queen introduction.

I've just watched a guy on YouTube transfer a frame of bees with the queen on into another colony.

 

[Obee1]

should i make a small nuce and can i with only one other hive

If you use an introduction cage as B+ says, (and remove attendant bees) you don't need a nuc. I made myself some of these intro cages and it's really not hard. Just make sure you put some gaffer tape over one end to give her a refuge to hide in. However you will need a frame of emerging brood with some food on to place the cage over.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

I've just watched a guy on YouTube transfer a frame of bees with the queen on into another colony.

Oh yootoob - it must be right then

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

she is in the yellow travelling cage. Definitely no eggs and there has been no brood for about 3 weeks, so no young bees

But are you certain there's no queen present?

 

[Stiffy]

B+ Where did you get the wire intro cages please?

I made my own out of old floor mesh, bit of slider to close joins and block of wood for closed end. Works a treat but as said put some gaffer tape on as a refuge for queen.
S


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