Requeening. First stage done

[Obee1]

Today did the first stage of requeening my hive from hell. New buckfast queen arrived at lunch time complete with her court. Suited up with an extra layer underneath. Sunny weather little breeze so felt a tadge too warm. Having read acres of info on requeening decided to go down the introduce to a nuc first route. Dug out poly nuc and some spare frames, made sure smoker was well lit and trudged down garden to face the evil hive. I needed 2 frames of emerging brood, 2 of honey/ pollen and a foundation frame. Oh and nurse bees. Lots of nurse bees. The hive wasn't too bad. I think my episode with them on Sunday makes all other manipulations seem easy by comparison. Got the required ingredients. Sprayed nurse bees lightly with my magic mix of a menthol mint dissolved in water. By now donor hive is getting antsy and I needed more bees so shut the hive up and retreated for coffee. Went back half hour later and shook in more bees. This time they were horrible. Job done, hive and nuc closed I just needed to wait a short while and introduce new queen. Only the guard bees would not stop guarding me. Running down street followed by bees not an option after member of public got stung on Sunday so had to wait it out in garden. For half an hour. Finally they left me. Came inside. Removed attendant bees from queens cage then put her between 2 brood frames in nuc. Didn't remove tab yet.
The waiting starts......
The hard part is yet to come...... Finding meangreenqueen and squishing her. Feeling less worried about it as today wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well done.
Pete's queens have been a joy to introduce in my limited experience. I never bother removing attendants.
In a few weeks you'll have lovely gentle orange bees

 

[Obee1]

Yes I did consider leaving attendants but having invested so much time effort and money I wanted to give her the best chance possible. Also it was a personal challenge to see if I could do it without losing queen

Hope she's ok in there.

 

[Tremyfro]

Hey. Fantastic job! Very brave...
Won't be long before they all calm down.

 

[Cussword]

Really interesting post, please update. My breath is baited.

 

[The Drone Ranger]

Removing old queen is easier if you shut the hive and move it a good way from the original site then put a spare box there instead.
Open them up and next day if weather is good a lot of the flying bees will be at the original site so you can find her without so much aggro

 

[BrianO]

Got a good tip in relation to this last weekend from a beek who works with 100 plus hives. Said when introducing queen in cage tape/wrap ( making sure adhesive side is not on inside or outside where bees legs would stick to it ) lower portion of cage, then gives queen space to retreat to as workers can sometimes de limb her pulling at her legs.

 

[masterBK]

Yellow Plastic travelling cages (for fondant release) have a safe refuge area built into them. Butler cages do not and workers knibble the feet off queens through the wire mesh (ie don't use them)

 

[Obee1]

Really interesting post, please update. My breath is baited.

Aww thank you. I did wonder as I was writing whether I should bother. It's not a question just a commentary on my first big challenge as a beek. Glad you like it. Will update when I next look in.

 

[Obee1]

Removing old queen is easier if you shut the hive and move it a good way from the original site then put a spare box there instead.
Open them up and next day if weather is good a lot of the flying bees will be at the original site so you can find her without so much aggro

Yes this is the plan for when I have to enter the hive from hell!

 

[Obee1]

Got a good tip in relation to this last weekend from a beek who works with 100 plus hives. Said when introducing queen in cage tape/wrap ( making sure adhesive side is not on inside or outside where bees legs would stick to it ) lower portion of cage, then gives queen space to retreat to as workers can sometimes de limb her pulling at her legs.

Hivemaker sent her in a yellow plastic cage that has one end with no holes so she has a refuge. Don't know why all the introduction cages don't have this detail.

 

[Swarm]

When it comes to finding the witch, if you have some spare boxes, add two frames per box from the brood area. Take twenty and have a cuppa, then go back and look through, she is usually hiding between the frames.

 

[Obee1]

When it comes to finding the witch, if you have some spare boxes, add two frames per box from the brood area. Take twenty and have a cuppa, then go back and look through, she is usually hiding between the frames.[/QUOTE

Confuzzled.... put 2 brood frames in a new box but put them next to each other. Return in 20 mins and look in between them. A different box for every pair. There are at least 14 brood frames. Maybe more by now. That's 7 boxes. Have I understood? That's a good idea but I definately can't do it as no brood boxes left. Ahhh won't need to do it for a week or 2. I needed new brood boxes. Now I have a good excuse to order lots!

Obee

 

[Swarm]

Sorry Obee1, two frames together per nuc or spare brood is ideal, if you are pushed for spare kit just increase the frames per box. It's just divide and conquer, makes finding her less traumatic for you, the foragers will return to their hive and you then have less bees to go through and more to the point, she has limited places to hide.

 

[Erichalfbee]

When it comes to finding the witch, if you have some spare boxes, add two frames per box from the brood area. Take twenty and have a cuppa, then go back and look through, she is usually hiding between the frames.[/QUOTE

Confuzzled.... That's 7 boxes. ......................!

Obee

Yep..........but it works.
One of the best buys I ever made was half a dozen correx nuc boxes from Fragile Planet. Cheap as chips and fold flat when not in use.

 

[Obee1]

Yep..........but it works.
One of the best buys I ever made was half a dozen correx nuc boxes from Fragile Planet. Cheap as chips and fold flat when not in use.

Erica genius. Why didn't I think of that. Storage of spare boxes is a real problem.

Obee

 

[oliver90owner]

Even more simple. And only needing one more brood box.

Place two brood frames with open brood in a new box, shake in all bees from old brood box, cover with Q/E, place old brood box over and leave until next day. Remove top box, take away the bottom box to a new location and replace the old brood box. Whether you use one or two floors it matters not, a
s long as the witch is not on the floor. The witch will be between the two frames, if they are left in the light for several minutes (that cuppa)

Trap her carefully or she could fly home.

This method works every time - but may not be appropriate for people with nasty bees in residential gardens, in particular.

 

[Obee1]

Even more simple. And only needing one more brood box.

Place two brood frames with open brood in a new box, shake in all bees from old brood box, cover with Q/E, place old brood box over and leave until next day. Remove top box, take away the bottom box to a new location and replace the old brood box. Whether you use one or two floors it matters not, a
s long as the witch is not on the floor. The witch will be between the two frames, if they are left in the light for several minutes (that cuppa)

Trap her carefully or she could fly home.

This method works every time - but may not be appropriate for people with nasty bees in residential gardens, in particular.

Thanks RAB. Was thinking this method not suitable for my situation. It would involve stirring up the bees too much, and they all fly up as soon as the hive is opened so shaking the whole box full would be disaster and they would fill the garden. However, will write this method in my little book of beek tips for future use if needed. Love it when the forum turns up a trick of the trade.

Obee

 

[tudorcd]

May I suggest:
Remember to use protected, ripe queen cell method, the virgin queen does all the regicide stuff, neatly, quickly and deadly.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]