BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER > REQUEENING & RAISING NEW QUEENS

Requeening Methods

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Michael Bush:
>Each season brings with it the replacements of tens, hundreds, thousands, hundreds of thousands of queens.  There are success stories and failure stories.  Let us open some discussion with two leading questions.

The problem with doing this for the bees is that you are passively breeding for bees that can't do it for themselves.

>1 - what is the fastest, most efficient, best, way to find and dispatch the old queen?

If you introduce cells instead of queens, you don't have to.  I think it's usually less work to actually look and find her, but if that fails a shaker box can be used.  Take a deep box and nail an excluder on the bottom and put a horizontal line of duct tape about two thirds from the top.  Put this on top of a box with at least some combs in it.  Shake the bees in and look for a clump of bees.  The queen usually will be in a clump.  To dispatch, drop the queen in a jar of alcohol.  Save for swarm lure.

>2 - what is the most efficient and most assured successful way of introducing the new queen?

A candy release is reliable enough, but if you have doubts or a very valuable queen, a push in cage is best.

Most I've seen are about 4" by 4". I prefer them larger:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesfaqs.htm#pushincage
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearingsimplified.htm#pushincage
http://www.bushfarms.com/images/QueenConfinement5.jpg
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesdoolittle.htm#ValuableQueen
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesbetterqueens.htm#The%20Push-in-the-Comb%20Cage
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U90UeMnKZSk&feature=youtu.be

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