Re-queening

[Neils]

To be more specific then

I have a colony that if last year is anything to go by probably needs a super now, has a lot of chalk brood and were less than pleasant (first gen Carnie crosses I think) to deal with. Their comb is two years old so off the back of that I'm intending to shook swarm them soon(tm) to get them on new comb and give them another dose of OA but I want to replace the queen (2011 vintage) with a, hopefully, better vintage from the allotment bees.

This is hence going to be a busy 14x12 that I want to requeen from an apidea mated queen. I've taken on board the advice to give newly mated queens at least a couple of weeks to get "up to speed", so if we assume that I have a hair roller cage, an up to speed, apidea resident, mated queen and a grumpy colony that I want to put that queen into, how would people go about it?

My thinking thus far was:


1) get a newly mated queen for a couple of weeks in an apidea
2) Remove the existing queen from "grumpy colony"
3) Leave it a week, re-inspect, remove all queen cells
3a) Leave it another week?
4) Put queen (and a few attending bees?) in hair roller, plugged with nice new Ambrosia fondant.
5) Put roller in queenless hive
6) come back in a week? and see if they've accepted her

This list superseded by one below (sorry for the pun)
The timings on 1) depend on 2 & 3 in some respects. if you have an egg laying queen in an apidea is that the "go" to make the hive you want to re-queen queenless?

[Neils]

Kitta, stuff I put in italics are things that I don't know yet. Should a queen have a few attending bees or can you just plonk her in a cage? Does it matter either way?

I suspect you don't need attending bees. If she's accepted she'll be taken care of while the plug is sorted out.

Don't let me monopolise the questions, ask away

[Jimbo]

I also have the Snelgrove book that I read a few years ago all it did was confuse me! There are so many permitations to introduction.
I have used 2 methods. The sheet of newspaper method and using a plastic mailing/introduction cage. Both methods have worked quite well, however they are not 100% foolproof

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks Gavin, Nellie, Jimbo - I suppose, when I need to introduce a queen again, I'll just follow my instinct as to whether she needs attendants or not, and hope I've made the right choice. Perhaps, as Nellie said, it doesn't matter either way - but I don't understand David Cushman saying to cage her without attendants and that she can be kept there for up to two weeks. In such a case, my instinct would say: 'Give her helpers.'

Kitta

[Jon]

In such a case, my instinct would say: 'Give her helpers.'

Kitta

I don't think it really matters one way or the other but I leave them in.

The key thing is that there is no foolproof method of queen introduction which probably explains why there are so many different suggestions. Like a lot of things in life, the trick is to manipulate as many variables as you can in order to move the probability of a successful introduction in your favour.
It's the same principle as flooding your neighbourhood with good drones. It does not guarantee a successful mating but it swings the odds more in your favour.

[fatshark]

I'm pretty sure I've read to NOT add the attending bees - yes, just checked - page 158 of Hooper 4th edition.

"Queens should always be put into the introduction cages on their own, never with their accompanying workers. These workers may try to defend the queen against strangers and in the end get her killed."

I reckon Hooper re-queened a few more times than I have and am happy to follow his advice ...