Queen introduction

[TOBY-3652]

Hi hope someone can answer a question 4 me.. Iva got a queen thats been laying for about 2 weeks and somehow{ i dont know how} shese got her abdoman damaged now only laying a few eggs on the side of the wax not in bottom// rightly or wrongly im going 2 introduce a new laying queen. Do i kill the damaged one and straight away introduce the new one in cage or do i leave queenless for half a day/ one day / week / what would thre more experienced people do??? Thanks

 

[richardbees]

Leaving the colony queenless for 6 hours is enough to make them receptive for a new Q.

Assuming you're buying in the new Q, make sure you exactly follow the instructions for preparing the cage before putting it into the hive.

 

[susbees]

24 hours is the magic figure. Long enough for the older foragers to forget the old queen's smell but not long enough for them to start making a replacement. Introducing a queen to a full hive is not so easy however.

And a damaged abdomen is beekeeper damage unless a bear knocked your hive over or similar...

 

[TOBY-3652]

Was me im pretty sure/ so if ikill the one that the bear damaged at 6-30am should be ok 2 put new one in cage mid afternoon fingers crossed

 

[richardbees]

Toby,

Yes.....that's enough time. remember that if you're buying in a new Q by post to make sure you release the accompanying workers first and prepare the cage properly

richard

 

[Midland Beek]

I had a queen with an abdomen that seemed to have been squashed, but the bees did not supersede her. She was an odd sight.

Cull old queen and introduce new queen in same operation in a slow release cage. I use a Butler cage and piece of newspaper - but be sure to perforate the newspaper.

A method that allows some time for the bees to feel that they are queenless is not one I would recommend.

 

[Monsieur Abeille]

A method that allows some time for the bees to feel that they are queenless is not one I would recommend.

Out of interest, why is that MB?

 

[Max]

Its extremely difficult to add a new queen to a hive this time of year. Regardless of how long you leave it queenless i.e 6hrs or 24hrs. Unless the new queen starts to lay straight away, the bees will suspect and kill her off and raise one themseleves.

If she arrives in the post then it will be a few days before she starts to lay, which makes it more difficult.

The best way this time of year is to make up a nuc and wait till the new queen comes into lay for a few weeks then remove the old queen and unite via newspaper.

Before May and after August queens can be introduced direct into hives with a large degree of success, but in between virtually no chance.

I hope this helps for what its worth!!

 

[mbc]

Its extremely difficult to add a new queen to a hive this time of year.
I hope this helps for what its worth!!

How do you figure that Max ? I get at least 8 out of 10 of my requeening efforts accepted ( even at this time of year ) having caged my queens with attendants to look after them in case of delays and simply popping them, with their attendants still caged with her straight into the hive where I've just removed their queen. Thats allot easier than "extremely difficult"

However, I do agree that the nuc method is even more fool proof