Running virgin Queens into Q- colonies?

[fred scuttle]

Ran a couple of virgin Queens into 2 hives which have been q- for the last few days tonight but wondering if they will be accepted... Any tips on this or nothing to worry about?

 

[dexter's shed]

Ran a couple of virgin Queens into 2 hives which have been q- for the last few days tonight but wondering if they will be accepted... Any tips on this or nothing to worry about?

my tip would be, if your looking for advice, ask before doing, otherwise any advice to the contrary is too late

 

[fred scuttle]

my tip would be, if your looking for advice, ask before doing, otherwise any advice to the contrary is too late

Indeed but both Queens emerged from cells as they were being inserted (in the time it took being wrapped up in a towel and driven to the other apiary, 20 minutes) so I didn't get the chance to ask them for advice beforehand and knowing that the colonies were q- meant they ended up going in on the inserted frames anyway rather than me dispatching them before asking for advice.... That's bees I suppose.... What to do next time then?

 

[protheroe]

Indeed but both Queens emerged from cells as they were being inserted (in the time it took being wrapped up in a towel and driven to the other apiary, 20 minutes) so I didn't get the chance to ask them for advice beforehand and knowing that the colonies were q- meant they ended up going in on the inserted frames anyway rather than me dispatching them before asking for advice.... That's bees I suppose.... What to do next time then?

Heavily smoking the colony first or dipping queen in honey is supposed to help but the acceptance rate isn't very good in larger colonies.(that's me though.others might have had more luck.)
Works ok in mini nucs but talking about large colony here.

 

[Erichalfbee]

I've only ever done it once and it worked.

Have a look in a couple of weeks?

But you say, few days. Have they had a chance to make any emergency queen cells?

 

[Heather]

Virgins usually get accepted more easily into a Queenless colony than a mated queen which is best in a cage for 2 days.
If unsure cage her. But usually a puff of smoke and pop v queen into quieter area of the hive.

 

[Nige.Coll]

I've done it and not had a problem.
How I did it was to open the hive and spray the bees with syrup then drop her on the frames.

More of a fuss is made if you run her into the entrance.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Very young virgins (and yours were) are more likely to be accepted, otherwise my experience isn't good.

I had a situation similar to yours - the queen was just coming out of the queencell so I jammed an opened queencell over the top and popped that in. No problems in this case. I've also had them buzzing in the queencell; as long as they are in the cell when put in they seem to be accepted OK.

 

[For want of a better word]

Butler cage with candipol in end
one frame of brood from another colony next to intro cage
Rosemary water misting over q and brood and top of frames

1kg candy on open crown board

A prayer may help!

No smoke not even a whiff!

Luck

Yeghes da

 

[fred scuttle]

Thanks for the advice folks, I'll leave it two weeks like an expectant father before checking and let the forum know what the outcome is. I'll also start transferring queen cells a bit sooner next time! Now I'm wondering if the calming movement of the drive between apiary sites caused the Queens to emerge like when driving a screaming baby round the block seems to calm them down! I'm thinking too much about these bloomin bees!

 

[meetballuk]

i did almost same as you picked off queen cell from another colony got home heard her buzzing in cell. had queenless nuc dropped her in and smoked like hell. took a while to mate but shes on with her second super now!

 

[kazmcc]

Check out this study on introducing queens by using smoke, particularly the results compared to the number of days queenless - https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/ga...8-hbee-direct-queen-introduction.pdf&site=398

Interesting results. Ahh if only I had lots of bees and queens to play with! Would love to know how many people use this method and their results.

 

[Nige.Coll]

I had a nasty hive with a queen that was invisible.
Dropping a virgin on the frames with a spray of syrup did the job but shes got to hit the ground running lol. 30 mins in a box that smells of other queens normally revs them up.

Ran one straight into the entrance, that one failed but came good in the end.

Ran another onto the frames of a failed queen cell colony and that worked.
But then ive only got 3 little boxes.

It works well in the right conditions but the conditions vary.
Sometimes problems have free solutions.

 

[bontbee]

Not had any problems running a newly hatched virgin in through the front door (of a queenless colony) - I guess that's where they'd expect to see one...

I expect the bees sit there scratching their heads, wondering how they missed her on the way out...

 

[fred scuttle]

Check out this study on introducing queens by using smoke, particularly the results compared to the number of days queenless - https://www.sussex.ac.uk/webteam/ga...8-hbee-direct-queen-introduction.pdf&site=398

Interesting results. Ahh if only I had lots of bees and queens to play with! Would love to know how many people use this method and their results.

Hi Kazmcc, yep that's the perennial problem but next year if you need to generate queen cells just take the existing queen out of the hive (making sure that you have some early stage larvae) and the girls will do all the hard work for you.... He says. sounding like I know what I'm talking about.. But sure the other beeks will put me right on this!

 

[fred scuttle]

Emergency queen cells versus Swarm cells..... Let the debate commence....

 

[Erichalfbee]

Emergency queen cells versus Swarm cells..... Let the debate commence....

The quality of the queen depends on the ability of the bees to feed the developing larva/larvae sufficient royal jelly. If you simply take the queen away you are leaving behind ALL the nurse bees so, provided subsequent mating conditions are fulfilled, the queen/queens should be perfectly OK.
Emergency queen does not always equal scrub queen.

 

[stilllearning]

I've tried it many times and I can conclude it either works or it doesn't !! '