Quintrex Cage

[B+.]

I just noticed this on the Thornes website.
https://www.thorne.co.uk/queen/cages?product_id=7865

Mine are all home-made but these look quite useful. Has anyone used them?

 

[Angry_Mob]

I just noticed this on the Thornes website.
https://www.thorne.co.uk/queen/cages?product_id=7865

Mine are all home-made but these look quite useful. Has anyone used them?

I've seen the plastic variations before: https://www.paynesbeefarm.co.uk/queen-marking/catching/queen-introduction-frame-cage/

 

[birdsandbees]

I just noticed this on the Thornes website.
https://www.thorne.co.uk/queen/cages?product_id=7865

Mine are all home-made but these look quite useful. Has anyone used them?

I spotted these a little while ago, caught my eye particularly because I made one a couple of years ago which is almost exactly the same.

 

[Hachi]

saw them at the NHS and to be honest they looked like a enthusiastic amateur had made them . edges were sharp as hell too and expensive.

ITLD buys plastic in bulk far cheaper and in my opinion, better

 

[madasafish]

I made three for my own and others' use. Each takes 10 minutes using varroa mesh

And yes sharp edges are required as they need to be embedded into the wax...otherwise bees burrow under the edges and kill the queen - as I discovered on first use.

 

[Hivemaker.]

ITLD buys plastic in bulk far cheaper and in my opinion, better

99% of the time I do direct introduction, cheapest of all and in my opinion better.

 

[fatshark]

The problem with the plastic equivalents are twofold ... the plug is easily lost in the grass and the edge doesn't push into uneven comb. This looks better on both counts. They're the best way of introducing queens into chronically queenless colonies in my experience.

 

[Finman]

.
£ 6 is quite a price to such equipment. The most easy to do yourself.

 

[colinc]

I have a plastic one I ordered to have a look at and the design of the edges mean you can’t dig them in. Bees will tunnel under or you will need to press it int too far. These look better but as stated pricey for some folded wire mesh


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[maddydog]

I use the plastic version which are alot cheaper but they do sit on the comb and the bees will tunnel underneath to release (occasionally kill) the queen.

I get a high initial acceptance rate but I've noticed the bees often try to supercede the new queen using the first batch of eggs beneath the cage. Reading Manley recently and he found the same....

I'll try direct introduction this year if I can produce plenty of queens

 

[Madge]

99% of the time I do direct introduction, cheapest of all and in my opinion better.

What are the conditions of the colonies when you choose to use direct introduction, Hivemaker? And under what conditions will you prefer to use an introduction cage?

 

[Eyeman]

99% of the time I do direct introduction, cheapest of all and in my opinion better.

You might not if you paid £45 for the queen.

 

[Finman]

You might not if you paid £45 for the queen.

IT has nothing to do with cage price. I do not pay a penny for the cage. I go and twist a new cage, if I do not find the old one.

If something irritates the workers, they try to kill the Queen through the cage. IT has nothing to do with cage.

Often I change the cage because workers have put poison onto grid.

One way us take the Queen off. When bees have capped their emergency cells, they accept new queens.

This does not have good forecast.

 

[madasafish]

99% of the time I do direct introduction, cheapest of all and in my opinion better.

Well yes. But not in the case of highly aggressive colonies I have found. I dequeened one, removed ALL QCs, and kept on doing so until there were no more. Then introduced a queen using a normal introduction cage. Queen killed.
Then another queen # using my homemade Quintrex cage. Same result - as I mentioned above.

Then a bigger Quintrex cage, deeper embedded and it eventually worked.

#All home reared queens from Buckfast stock from one of the UK's top breeders. So not £45 each - thanks goodness.

 

[Finman]

Well yes. But not in the case of highly aggressive colonies I have found. I dequeened one, removed ALL QCs, and kept on doing so until there were no more. Then introduced a queen using a normal introduction cage. Queen killed.
Then another queen # using my homemade Quintrex cage. Same result - as I mentioned above.

Then a bigger Quintrex cage, deeper embedded and it eventually worked.

#All home reared queens from Buckfast stock from one of the UK's top breeders. So not £45 each - thanks goodness.

Ridiculous mathematics.
If the colony does not accept the new queen, the reason is somewhere else than the cage.

in August I do not even try to give queens, because 80% of colonies try to kill the queen. in July, when it is nectar flow, I can put 80% out of queens directly walk onto comb.


.

 

[Finman]

.
When I join colonies, I put them just together without papers. I put queen often under push in cage to ensure that bees do not attack on the queen.

 

[Hivemaker.]

What are the conditions of the colonies when you choose to use direct introduction, Hivemaker? And under what conditions will you prefer to use an introduction cage?

In any condition, providing it is a laying queen, even to laying workers.

 

[mbc]

In any condition, providing it is a laying queen, even to laying workers.

Do you wet her ?

 

[B+.]

You might not if you paid £45 for the queen.

I have lost quite a few queens over the years using travelling cages so I always use my own, home-made, push-in cages for any queens I buy. Even my own II queens have a considerable value so I wouldn't risk them during introduction.
I just thought these looked like sturdy cages that people who don't already make their own would appreciate. The price isn't excessive compared to the price of other equipment especially when so much of it is plastic.

 

[Hivemaker.]

Do you wet her ?

No, as in not before introduction, but always have a small water sprayer and give them all a misting on the comb if the queen starts to get a bit lively and run, most often they just stick their head into a cell as if inspecting it to lay in, then get fed by the bees.