When do I put in the queen?

[orvette1]

I am going to take 5 frames from a strong hive with lots of bees and put them in a Nuc. I am buying a new queen to put in the nuc so I can start a new hive. How long should I wait between putting in the frames and putting in the new queen?

[ronwhite3030]

some say 12 hrs some say 24 hrs, sometimes I put the cage in right away if i dont have time to do it later

[Michael Bush]

24 or overnight are ideal.  If I have to drive 60 miles a second time to do it, I'll settle for two hours...

[lilyfrog]

No need to wait, as long as she is caged, I kill my queens a drop a new one in straight away. I might loose 1 queen per 150 requeens


hth mark

[Michael Bush]

>No need to wait, as long as she is caged, I kill my queens a drop a new one in straight away. I might loose 1 queen per 150 requeens

My guess is you could reduce that to none if you removed all the queens in a yard, ate your lunch and then put the cages in...

[bee-nuts]

"My guess is you could reduce that to none if you removed all the queens in a yard, ate your lunch and then put the cages in..."

What if your not hungry? LOL!

One loss of 150 is probably as good as your going to get, lunch or no lunch.  had an order for 12 queens last year and one was dead.  Picked up 6 queens and it started pouring and could not get queens in for a couple days and one was dead by intro time.  Some are going to die no matter what you do.

I have had no problems with 4-6 hours.  I make the nucs, go get queens, grab a bite to eat, wait as long as I can before I have to go to work or before dark and put em in. Have had good luck every time so far. 

[beyondthesidewalks]

When I used to requeen with purchased queens I used to drive to Navasota, TX (Weavers) and pick them up to avoid the hazards of shipping them.  Never had one die on me and I always pinched the old queen, dropped her in the bottom of the hive, let her set there while I blew attendants out of the queen cage and poked a hole in the candy, and then suspended her inbetween two frames.  Might have taken 5 to 10 minutes at the most.  Never had one die or get balled.  I've known folks who just let them walk in.  Never had the guts to try that.