New Queen for a longtime queenless hive

[Jingles]

I got my queen in the mail.....she is alive in her cage, but her attendants are not. The hive needing her has no eggs, no brood, lotsa honey, lotsa pollen, lotsa bees. I fear there may be no bees to attend to her. I saw several smaller, fuzzy bees on her cage and at least one bee biting the cage. I am going to keep an eye on her and them today. When can I let her out without fear of them killing her? I don't want her to starve, either. Poor thing! The queenless hive wasn't too aggressive, either, like before (it was a little chilly when I checked them, maybe that was it?). My other hive is just getting going and doesn't really have the brood to spare, but I could grab a small cluster on a frame for the queenless hive.

Please advise. Thanks!!


Love, Marla

[annette]

You can place her in a push in cage (look on MB website). I will try to post a photo of one. You place her in this cage and push in the cage into a frame with honey so she can eat and walk around. It actually works the best if the frame you use has honey on it and some emerging brood (which I do not think you have even in your other hive yet) and room for her to lay eggs.

This way, the bees in the hive can get used to her, and they can actually feed her if they want to. They also see her laying eggs. I made this push in cage and it wasn't to hard for me. Although I never actually had to use it.






Anyway, this is one thought. Would they be able to feed her through the cage she arrived in??

[Jingles]

Thanks, Annette.

Yes, they can feed her thru her shipping cage, and I think I saw some bees feeding her. I am hoping for the best!



Love,

[tim1]

If the worker bees are feeding the caged queen then that is a positive sign that they most likely going to accept her.  I would proceed to install her just like normal.
At this time if the numbers of bees are low it would be ok to add a frame of brood and bees.
 

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#requeening