queen bees

[crispy]

Ok so here is a newbie question about queens ,here they come in small wooden blocks with a candy plug at one end my question is how do they get the queen in there ? Do they ask her politly please your majesty would you mind stepping inside this little box while we glue the end up or do they just shove her in there and tell her to sit down and be quiet and staple it shut ?

[kanga]

Crispy, Queen wooden queen cages have a small hole at either end and the queen cages are prepared, prior to catching the queens, with candy at one end and generally a cork, ( this is the cork you remove when introducing the queen). The wire mesh is then stapled onto the wooden cage.
The queen is then caught by hand and placed into the open hole at the opposite end to the candy, several workers are then caught and placed in the cage exactly the same way and then the hole is then plugged with a cork. ( You do not remove this cork unless you intend to release the queen straight away. The normal method of introduction is to remove the cork from the candy end and place the cage in the hive. A full plug of candy will ensure a slow release (approximately 48 hrs), this slow release allows the workers to get used to the new queens odour and queen pheromone. Kev

[BeeMaster2]

To add to Kanga?s post, the queens are picked up by had and her head is placed on the hole with the cork removed and she crawls in. Very young nurse bees are selected and added by hand the same way.
Some may use foresepts sp to do the same but it is safer by hand.
If you search the web, there are videos out there that shows queen breeders doing this.
Jim Altmiller

[crispy]

Thanks for the replies i really didnt know how they did it and its been bugging me for ages .