Queen introduction

[Saffabee]

I have read that it is easier to introduce bought mated queens later in the season, what is later in the season is that now July or is August better?

Thanks

Wayne


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[Fusion_power]

Requeening works best with young bees, smaller populations of bees, and during times when the bees are distracted by other activities. The bee population is growing rapidly in spring and peaks sometime between April and June for most Northern hemisphere locations. Population declines through mid-summer and then may increase during a fall flow as the bees prepare for winter.


Here are some thoughts and a method of requeening that gives good to very good results.

I do most of my requeening by pulling 3 frames of bees and brood from a hive, shaking additional bees from 2 or 3 more frames into the nuc, then moving the nuc to a separate stand near the parent hive. I have set up the nuc on top of the parent hive with the entrance facing opposite the parent hive's entrance. Give them a queen in cage immediately. I don't open the release hole until the queen has been in the nuc at least 1 day and prefer 2 days. This gives more time for the bees to get used to her. When I can open the nuc and see the bees grooming and feeding the queen through the cage, it is time to open the release hole and puncture the candy with a small stick so the bees can quickly remove it. Put the cage back in the nuc and within 24 hours the queen will be free and should be laying eggs.

Don't move the old hive queen into the nuc, that guarantees failure of the new queen. Be careful because about 20% of established hives have 2 queens in mid to late summer! You want a nuc with 3 frames covered with young bees and NOT being robbed. Avoid making the nuc too strong. Fewer bees and younger bees is the target, but make them strong enough to cover the brood.

Be careful if there is a mid-summer dearth. The bees may rob out the nuc and kill the new queen in the process.

Once the nuc has been successfully requeened, kill the old queen and unite the nuc with the parent colony by the newspaper method.

I should also say why I go to so much trouble. My bees are notoriously hard to requeen. They do not like the smell of any queen other than the one they are used to. The method above gives nearly 100% success where ordinary methods of requeening can be below 50%. I don't like losing queens when some simple precautions can give a successful introduction.

 

[Michael Palmer]

I requeen huge colonies in my cell building apiary every July/August with push-in cages. Excellent acceptance.

 

[Saffabee]

Thanks for the replies, think I will be doing the couple of frames in a nuc and will be doing it in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully it all goes to plan if not will combine back to the main hive.


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[madasafish]

I have requeened 4 colonies plus 1 nuc this year with push in cages as per MP above.
100% success rate.
(But patience is a virtue I am not in a hurry to inspect afterwards..

 

[B+.]

(But patience is a virtue I am not in a hurry to inspect afterwards..

I would give them at least a week. After 9 days her own eggs will be sealed as workers and you can take that as a successful introduction.

 

[maddydog]

I would give them at least a week. After 9 days her own eggs will be sealed as workers and you can take that as a successful introduction.

Hmmm, workers have always tunnelled in and let her out before 9 days is up. Have introduced dozens of queens and only had one fail when a virgin got in

 

[Millet]

I waited 5 days after releasing a new mated Queen in a 6 frame Nuc, luckily i did because they where dangerously low on stores, they where rather being robbed or not flying through rubbish weather another day or two and i would have lost the colony to starvation.

 

[Angularity]

I put in a new (bought) queen two weeks ago. I went in yesterday, and there were single eggs in cells, but a lot of the capped cells seemed to be drones, even in worker cells (raised capping).

Is this a new queen not learning her business, or perhaps something wrong with her mating?

Of course I failed to find her, but I just haven't got the knack.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Did the colony have any brood in at all when you introduced to queen?

 

[Angularity]

Did the colony have any brood in at all when you introduced to queen?

Only some capped brood, worker and drone.

 

[Eyeman]

Interesting recent requeening using newspaper unite.
Bought in Buckfast started in 6 F nuc for 2 weeks and laying well.
Then united the Buckfast with her 6 Frames using newspaper unite with one of my colonies that I removed the Q from 2 days previously.
Checking 1 week later lots of capped emergency QC's with the Buckfast walking around. She is marked but not clipped.
What's intersting is there is are no eggs or young brood. When the Buckfast attempts to put her abdomen into a cell she is 'butted' by a worker or two then moves on.
Heard about the difficulty of introducing new stains to local hybrids but not come across this before.
All QC's removed and will check again.
Do you think they will accept her and let her start laying?

 

[Erichalfbee]

I opened up a colony I had re-queened with a Buckie this year and the bees were rough housing her about in a similar fashion. I popped her in a queen catcher and she seemed perfectly OK. I presumed I had just looked in too early and not really knowing what else to do I just popped her back. Two weeks later everything looked normal. I wouldn't have waited two days to introduce her, by the way. I'm not surprised they made queen cells but I am surprised she was still there. I wait half an hour then put the queen in....in a cage.

 

[Eyeman]

Interesting- in Raitnicks paper they found:
Direct introduction of mated and virgin queens using smoke: a method that gives almost 100% acceptance when hives have been queenless for 2 days or more.

I presume their colonies must have started to make queen cells then tore them down. In their paper they were introducing similar strain queens. Definitely think its tougher when trying to introduce an outsider.

 

[Angularity]

I opened mine up yesterday. The queen is still alive and in the hive. Plenty of cells have eggs in, placed centrally and looking tickety-boo, but there were also plenty where there seemed to be other white bits near the eggs. Hard to explain, probably not eggs but not as clean as I was expecting. Odd.

 

[maddydog]

Interesting recent requeening using newspaper unite.
Bought in Buckfast started in 6 F nuc for 2 weeks and laying well.
Then united the Buckfast with her 6 Frames using newspaper unite with one of my colonies that I removed the Q from 2 days previously.
Checking 1 week later lots of capped emergency QC's with the Buckfast walking around. She is marked but not clipped.
What's intersting is there is are no eggs or young brood. When the Buckfast attempts to put her abdomen into a cell she is 'butted' by a worker or two then moves on.
Heard about the difficulty of introducing new stains to local hybrids but not come across this before.
All QC's removed and will check again.
Do you think they will accept her and let her start laying?

I always knock down any QCs for a while after I've introduced a new queen, especially when she has different genetics.
The new queen's capped brood in the nuc portion will be emerging in a week or so. My guess is she'll start laying in those frames

 

[Eyeman]

I always knock down any QCs for a while after I've introduced a new queen, especially when she has different genetics.
The new queen's capped brood in the nuc portion will be emerging in a week or so. My guess is she'll start laying in those frames

Yes
Good advice about knocking down QC's, have had to do it more than once this year.
What I found interesting was how the colony was stopping the Buckfast laying eggs or they we eating them!

 

[Eyeman]

New buckfast has started laying- it's taken her over 1 week from initial unite. No more queen cells.

 

[maddydog]

New buckfast has started laying- it's taken her over 1 week from initial unite. No more queen cells.

Easy this beekeeping lark