QUEEN INTRODUCTION
Far too many valuable queens are lost through poor introduction techniques and as this is such a vital part of apiary management, it deserves a clear guide to help avoid these losses.
It is always preferable to introduce queens to a nucleus, rather than attempting introduction to a strong colony. Firstly, in the mid afternoon when the bulk of the flying bees are out of the hive, take two combs with capped and emerging brood, and place one comb of stores (honey and pollen) on each side, making 4 combs total, plus a dummy board. If the number of young bees seems small, shake more bees from combs with brood to increase the numbers, then place the nucleus in its new site, when the bulk of the flying bees in it will return to the original site. You want young bees in the nucleus, as they are more likely to accept a new queen than flying bees will. Do make absolutely certain that you do not have the old queen in your nucleus. If you cannot find her, then shake all the bees from the 4 combs you are intending using into the original brood chamber, then put a queen excluder on and put the combs in a new box above the excluder and put the cover on. The bees will move up, and you will be able to use the nucleus within a matter of a few hours. It is vital that you do not take a nucleus from a hive that shows any sign of swarm preparation, or has a queen cell present – if you do, the nucleus will kill off the queen you are trying to introduce – check the parent colony with meticulous care!
Leave the nucleus for up to 2 hours (until the early evening) to create a state of distress upon the loss of their queen. Spray all 4 combs of bees with thin sugar syrup together with a few drops of vanilla essence; then, having removed all the attendant bees from the queen cage, remove the flap to expose the candy and place the queen cage in the centre of the brood nest, candy end uppermost, and do not touch for at least 5 days – if you do, the bees could well ball the queen!
If you consider that your bees are particularly homicidal, then the following method could be used:
Home-made 4” square softwood cage; three sides 9/16” x 3/8”, one side 9/16” x 11/4” with two 5/16” holes, one with queen excluder. Two face bars fitted to maintain bee space between facing comb.
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