Anyone got some whizzo tricks for transferring young (fast) queens + a few workers into travelling/Butler or whatever cages?
Kate
PS: As you see my attempts to embolden the heading don't work. Can't seem to fix it but hey ... Bs first and last!
Anyone got some whizzo tricks for transferring young (fast) queens + a few workers into travelling/Butler or whatever cages?
Kate
PS: As you see my attempts to embolden the heading don't work. Can't seem to fix it but hey ... Bs first and last!
You could use one of these queen catchers, sometimes known as a pluffer.
http://www.buzzybeeshop.co.uk/page13.html
You put the open end over the queen on the comb and when she starts to walk up the pipe you place the end against the entrance hole in the cage and she walks in.
I pick up workers one at a time by the wings and put them in the introduction cage back end first.
Thanks. Now I know what those pipes are called!
Used one for these last week and the queen resolutely refused to walk to the other end, whichever way I turned it! Ah well, practice will doubtless make perfect.
Hi kate
I've been converted to using one after the crown of thorns meets queen thorax episode (early season marking)
When I put my hand round the tube it is darker than the bulb and that seems to get them up there on bright days
I've always called these a beekeepers crack pipe ... I even ordered the first one from my local Thorne's agent using that name. Not, I hasten to add, the sign of a misspent youth ...
These certainly help picking up the queen unless she's scampered round to a patch of stores, when things can get very messy. I usually encourage her into the bulb and then quickly place my thumb over the open end. To encourage her into a cage you can then blow her (gently) down the tube.
beejazz ... other than honey I've never washed mine and have used it repeatedly in an afternoon catching and clipping many queens. Didn't seem to get any harder.
Worse still if it is a misspent middle age!
I have never washed my queen crack pipe either and it does not seem to annoy the queens or the workers.
I find it useful for getting a queen out of an apidea especially if she is on the side wall.
At one point I thought it would be better just to pick up queens for marking and clipping but in terms of teaching a group of people, I think the pipe or the plunger cage are good tools for moving queens about, clipping and marking.
A lot of people will never be comfortable picking up or handling a queen but it is important that they learn to clip and mark by themselves without having to phone a friend every time.
So I think these tools have their use.
Not everyone has the same level of dexterity or confidence handling queens and I think moving marking or clipping using one of these tools is a massive improvement over not being able to do it all all.
It is one of the most rewarding things in the queenrearing group when you see people acquire skills they did not have before.
[QUOTE=Kate Atchley;19352]Anyone got some whizzo tricks for transferring young (fast) queens + a few workers into travelling/Butler or whatever cages?
Whether you use a well aired matchbox or a more sophisticated modern piece of technology as instruments of imprisonment, always remember the fundamental principle; bees move upwards and not downwards. Bees will climb up into something but will not climb down into it. In other words if one wants a bee to go into a container, put the opening over the bee and slope the container upwards. Apologies if you are already aware of this, but it is often neglected at first attempts.
I prefer not to touch and get my scent on queens - purely a personal opinion but I believe it can lead to balling and rejection if done immediately before introduction or re introduction to a hive - especially the latter.
Very helpful. Thanks. The upwards movement is familiar though I may have forgotten it when I was trying this. It's a bit counter-intuitive if you're trying to fill something with a solid creature!
Creating a darker lower part of the tube should help a lot.
I'm not keen on handling the queens for the reason you mention, Dark Bee. Workers – that's okay – but I try to work queens without adding any scent to them.
I use the queen catcher tube thingy, also managed to capture a few bees with it as well. I don't think I'll ever be confident in picking up queens with my fingers, they wriggle so, and I think i may squash or damage her. The catcher tube is a good piece of kit to have handy. Reminds me, i must wash it out.
Hi beejazz
Do you find the queen will walk up the long tube OK
I wonder if its slippier when they are new and get easier once its a bits less shiny
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