Queen introduction, into a nuc

[Suzi Q]

I introduced a queen from an apidea into a nuc on Saturday. By Sunday, somehow the bees, or queen?, had eaten all the candy. The candy was home made so probably was too soft, and melted! I haven't taken off the tabs yet as wanted to introduce slowly. So, two options, just remove the plastic tabs and let her out, or remove the tabs and put in some more candy. The bees seem calm enough with her, but once out she's out, and I wouldn't have any more control over the situation.

 

[Heather]

Never put a queen cage in with tabs on ...(heaven forbid- but if you had emergency call away or absence - she is stuck- you will lose her eventually)- They will take the candy and release her. They prob took the candy here as she would not have been able to shift it all. Or it may have dripped out...but she is still trapped till you intervene.
Why do you want to continue control... those workers are boss anyway. let them continue naturally- they are usually right.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Remove the tabs and put a bit more candy in - you could always cover the candy in masking tape if you want to leave the introduction a bit longer

 

[Suzi Q]

Well I'm glad I did leave the tabs on otherwise they may have let her out within a few hours, which is too soon, I would rather introduce slowly. She is OK, they can feed her, and I've heard of beekeepers taking 3/4 days to introduce queens. So, tabs off, and harder candy put in, later today, barring an emergency!
Thanks JBM, thoughts confirmed, I'll do it later.

 

[beeno]

Well I'm glad I did leave the tabs on otherwise they may have let her out within a few hours, which is too soon, I would rather introduce slowly. She is OK, they can feed her, and I've heard of beekeepers taking 3/4 days to introduce queens. So, tabs off, and harder candy put in, later today, barring an emergency!
Thanks JBM, thoughts confirmed, I'll do it later.

Good luck Suzi Q, am I sure it will be OK. Keep everything clean though so she does not pick up any odeurs! Marked a queen just come into lay the other day and was relieved to see her at the top of a frame a few days later!

 

[fiftyjon]

Remove the tabs and put a bit more candy in - you could always cover the candy in masking tape if you want to leave the introduction a bit longer

... I would rather introduce slowly. She is OK, they can feed her, and I've heard of beekeepers taking 3/4 days to introduce queens. So, tabs off, and harder candy put in, later today,.

There's no hurry in introducing queens, a few days won't matter.

Many a queen has been killed by a rushed introduction.

 

[Roola]

There's no hurry in introducing queens, a few days won't matter.

Many a queen has been killed by a rushed introduction.

Our new queen has been in since Friday evening, Tabs off but tape over... It says to leave her in the cage until bees stop surrounding the cage and show no interest? How long does this normally take? Will queen be ok in cage during this time in terms of water? Just don't know ho long to leave until tape can come away and leave them to munch through candy...

 

[fiftyjon]

Our new queen has been in since Friday evening, Tabs off but tape over... It says to leave her in the cage until bees stop surrounding the cage and show no interest? How long does this normally take? Will queen be ok in cage during this time in terms of water? Just don't know ho long to leave until tape can come away and leave them to munch through candy...

The bees will be around the cage as that is how they will be tending to her and getting used to her. If there is a frenzied 'balling' of the cage then the bees aren't being too friendly towards her and the tape should remain.

If the bees are calmly moving over the cage and there are no emergency cells in the nuc I would be inclined to make sure there is enough candy in cage, remove the tape and then leave them to it. The queen should be released in the next day, possibly even a few hours later.

I would then check in two days time to see that the queen has come out of the cage (which is then removed) and then not disturb them for a week, after which a quick check for eggs.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Our new queen has been in since Friday evening, Tabs off but tape over... It says to leave her in the cage until bees stop surrounding the cage and show no interest? How long does this normally take? Will queen be ok in cage during this time in terms of water? Just don't know ho long to leave until tape can come away and leave them to munch through candy...

If the bees are just taking a little interest in the queen - not 'mobbing' the cage, I'd take the tape off tomorrow

 

[Suzi Q]

Well she's out! I took a chance on releasing her; it was too fiddly trying to snip off the tabs with 15 or so bees on the cage, so judging on how calm the bees were on the cage I pulled the top back. She walked out and stood perfectly still for a few minutes while more and more bees came up and licked her. I think they have accepted her, there were no bees jumping on her, it was all quite orderly, then she slipped down between the frames. If she knows what's good for her I expect she will start laying straight away. I will leave alone now and hope to see lots of pollen going in in the next few days.

 

[Stiffy]

Never put a queen cage in with tabs on ...(heaven forbid- but if you had emergency call away or absence - she is stuck- you will lose her eventually)- They will take the candy and release her. They prob took the candy here as she would not have been able to shift it all. Or it may have dripped out...but she is still trapped till you intervene.
Why do you want to continue control... those workers are boss anyway. let them continue naturally- they are usually right.

When I first tried introducing Queens I always followed the advice given i.e. ensure they were q- and then remove tab and let them release her.....big mistake as invariably they were not ready and very few were accepted. I always now leave the tab and monitor to see how they behave, some can be released immediately but 9 times out of 10 they will try to make their own and not accept anything foreign. I now ensure that the queen has the best chance of being accepted, take my time and haven't lost one since. The bees will feed and look after a caged queen for a good while so if I really couldn't get to release her over a few days or so she would still be fine.
I would have added more fondant and popped her back in until they are ready
S

 

[Suzi Q]

Stiffy, how do you manage to get the tabs off with the cage covered with bees? I have snipped them off with fondant still in the compartment, but snipping them off with the queen waiting on the other side was a different matter!

 

[Alabamaeee]

Our new queen has been in since Friday evening, Tabs off but tape over... It says to leave her in the cage until bees stop surrounding the cage and show no interest? How long does this normally take? Will queen be ok in cage during this time in terms of water? Just don't know ho long to leave until tape can come away and leave them to munch through candy...

I had one last year that was in the cage for a week as the candy set like concrete. As for the bees becoming disinterested that certainly wasn't the case with mine as they were all over the cage trying to release her. I opened the bottom of the cage just enough to let her out and put it back face down on the top bars and all was well in a few seconds.

If the candy has not melted with the current heatwave I would open the tape in the next couple of days but I'm no expert

 

[Stiffy]

Stiffy, how do you manage to get the tabs off with the cage covered with bees? I have snipped them off with fondant still in the compartment, but snipping them off with the queen waiting on the other side was a different matter!

Only once had the fondant eaten with tabs still on and I just topped it up, then removed tab with my finger nail...never had to use scissors or clippers.The bees can then release the queen over the next few hours, believe me when they want to release or get at queens they only need a very short time to get through the fondant.
If you are worried take off the tab and cover with tape but make sure you wrap well as they can chew through tape pretty quickly too.
I think it was Norton or Hivemaker that gave some really good introduction advice a few years ago, don't know if they mentioned removing tabs but basically it is this that I follow, maybe they could point you in the direction of the post?
S

 

[Suzi Q]

You must have stronger fingernails than me!

 

[Stiffy]

You must have stronger fingernails than me!

Not found one yet that cannot be broken with my nail which queen cage are you using ?
S

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

 

[Suzi Q]

Yellow, flattish, think they are called puzzle cages. Next time I will take off the tabs, and replace with sellotape

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

JZ-BZ cages are pretty good - you can also buy little plastic caps to fit over the fondant plug(the'entrance is tube shaped) which also has lugs on for suspending between the frames - once that cap is off you just wedge the cage between the frames. It also has an area with no holes so the queen can get out of the way if the bees are a little agressive.
They have a website

 

[Suzi Q]

Thanks JBM, I checked Buzzy Bee website and can see the type you mean. Also has a pheromone impregnated into the plastic to mask the scent of the queen for easier acceptance, apparently.

 

[Stiffy]

Yellow, flattish, think they are called puzzle cages. Next time I will take off the tabs, and replace with sellotape

JZBJ have a simple tab that you pop off, very good cages. I think the ones you have used are 'puzzle' cages, the flat ones with a slide out at the bottom?
I get my breeder queens from Denmark in these and found them to be very good, never had a problem breaking the tabs but then I can break most things as I am a little heavy handed at times.
S