Laserfiche WebLink
"Slow Release Method" for Introducing a New Queen to a Queenless Colony <br /> Follow these steps to introduce a queen to a queenless colony. <br /> 1. Purchase a new, mated queen. The new queen will arrive in a small cage with a few attendant worker <br /> bees inside.Alternatively, the new queen will be in a cage alone, and the attendants will be in a small, <br /> screened container surrounding her. <br /> 2. Feed the colony. The probability of queen acceptance is greater if the colony is fed sugar syrup to <br /> simulate a nectar flow and if they are kept queenless for 12-24 hours. Therefore, provide at least one <br /> pail of 1:1 sugar syrup and wait for 12 to 24 hours to install the new queen. <br /> 3. Introduce the new queen into a queenless colony. The colony you introduce the new queen into <br /> should sit queenless for 12-24 hours allowing the old queen's pheromone bouquet to dissipate, which <br /> prepares the workers to be receptive to the odors of the new queen. Expose the candy plug of the <br /> queen cage by removing the cork or cover from the candy. Without removing any attendants from <br /> inside the cage, introduce the cage, screen side down, between two frames in the center of the brood <br /> nest (but not directly under the inner cover opening), just below the top bars of the frame. Push the <br /> frames together gently, making sure there is room for the workers to cluster around the cage to feed <br /> the queen. Be careful not to kill the queen by crushing honey cells and filling the cage with honey. <br /> Refill the pail of 1:1 sugar syrup if necessary and close up the hive. <br /> 4. Releasing the queen. Within 2-3 days (but sometimes sooner), the workers eat through the candy plug <br /> and the queen will walk out of the cage. She will begin laying eggs within a few days after that. Leave <br /> the colony alone for 5-7 days after introducing the new queen, allowing her to "move in" undisturbed. <br /> • <br /> Important notes on releasing the queen from the cage <br /> To install the queen using the slow release method, ensure the workers have access to the candy <br /> plug, which they will eat through to release the queen: <br /> • For 3-hole wooden cages, remove the cork on the candy end. <br /> • For California cages (small wooden cages not divided into 3 sections) be sure the cork is <br /> removed and install a plastic tube with a candy plug. <br /> • For plastic cages, remove the cap over the candy plug. <br /> To slow the release, put a small piece of masking or painters tape over the worker bees' access to the <br /> queen candy and poke a small hole in the tape just above the candy. This tape helps slow the worker <br /> bees from chewing the candy down before the colony gets used to the new queen. <br /> Sometimes the workers eat through the candy plug of the queen cage within 1-2 days, releasing <br /> the queen before the workers become receptive to the new queen's pheromones. In this case, the <br /> workers may kill the new queen rather than accept her, odd as this seems.A safer strategy is to keep <br /> the candy end of the caged corked when you introduce the new queen into the colony. Return after <br /> three days, remove a center brood comb, gently open the cage and allow the queen to walk out on <br /> the comb. If she walks away, or starts feeding on nectar, it is a sign she has been accepted. If the <br /> workers jump on her in a tight cluster(called "balling") it is nerve wracking, but you need to scoop her <br /> back into the cage before they kill her. Chances are there is another queen in the colony, one the bees <br /> 41111 reared despite your careful watch. <br /> Beekeeping in Northern Climates 59 <br />