Newly introduced Queen killed?

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BernardBlack

Field Bee
Joined
May 7, 2016
Messages
552
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40
Location
Co. Armagh
Hive Type
National
Number of Hives
5
Put new Queen into hive Tuesday (cage type below).

It was only afterwards I realised it is advised the plastic tab (so the bees can’t get at the fondant) be kept on for a day while bees get used to the new Queen.

Anyway, I opened the tab when introducting, and the next day the Queen was out of the cage. I introduced a Queen before successfully using similar cage.

Checked today, but no sign of eggs yet but also, no sign of the Queen.

What are the chances they didn’t kill her?

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Always better I find to delay the release as advised, but you could well have missed her, It Will/may take a few days for her to get back in lay anyway. More importantly why look so soon after the release. Once tabs pulled leave well alone for a few days at least. New queens can be balled if you start annoying the bees to soon.
 
Doubtful she'll have started laying yet - my only advice would be to leave well alone for a week before interfering, you don't want to be clattering around in the hive until they're settled with her.
 
Yes. Have a look in a week and even then if you see eggs leave it at that. Don’t even bother lifting every frame to find her.
What was the situation in the colony when you introduced her ?
 
Always better I find to delay the release as advised, but you could well have missed her, It Will/may take a few days for her to get back in lay anyway. More importantly why look so soon after the release. Once tabs pulled leave well alone for a few days at least. New queens can be balled if you start annoying the bees to soon.

Yes, I thought that myself. I wasn’t worried not seeing eggs.

It was just the not seeing the Queen that’s got me worried.
 
Yes. Have a look in a week and even then if you see eggs leave it at that. Don’t even bother lifting every frame to find her.
What was the situation in the colony when you introduced her ?

As in the hive temperament? A bit agitated the last few weeks. Could have been due to wasps or stores.
 
Hi Bernard,
Was it a similar queen or completely different type?

Was originally requeened in 2018 with a Buckfast Queen. There’s been a few changes in Queen since then, so previous queens would have mated with local bees, so maybe the Buckfast strain has been diluted somewhat since.

New Queen is a native black bee.
 
Some will say I'm biased but I find the opposite, getting rid of ginger genes in my apiary is so difficult I don't bother now, lost too many gorgeous queens. Anything turning ginger is stripped of all sealed brood to add to any smaller colonies. Squash the queen and any cells they build and leave them stew before giving them eggs from decent queens.
I've never introduced a ginger queen (the very thought!) so perhaps the black bees would react in a similar, stubborn way.
Some have been that agreeable to other Amm queens that eggs and open brood are not a problem, they've not drawn cells and my mate has been known to break the tab and even remove some of the candy before just bunging them in.
Really hope she is safe, Bernard. Did you take a look around the entrance? They sometimes turf her out if they kill her.
 
@Swarm - yeah I had a look out front, but didn’t spot anything. Will do so again though.
 
If the queen has been banked it will take a while for her to start laying.
It can be a problem changing genetics to a new strain as the queen seems to be rejected more often.
I changed from black bees to buckfast and the black bees were very awkward to requeen in some cases often killing the new queen and raising their own.
 

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