Hello Tom,
 
Queen introduction is a subject near and dear to my heart,
mainly because I had a lot of trouble with supersedure
after introducing a new queen. Here is the main thrust of
what I learned.
 
Fall requeening and Spring requeening are very different.
Almost anything goes in the Spring, but Fall requeening
requires attention to detail and leaving no stone unturned
in the introduction process.
 
Requeening a small colony is much easier than a large one,
so re queen using an nuc. If you buy a new queen in the fall
leave her in the cage in the nuc for a while, three days minimum.
Several means have been successfully used to release her.
 
1. Tie a strong enough thread or string around the cork and replace
   it into the candy end of the cage. Run the string out the top of
   the hive and let it sit there for 2 days, then pull the string, thus
   removing the cork. ( The cage must be jammed between the frames
   to hold it fast, of course.) The new queen can now be freed in the nuc by    the bees eating out the candy.In a week the queen should be laying.
 
2. 15 days after putting the new queen into the nuc, re-cage her,
   keeping her in the nuc. Then, on the day of introducing the new queen
   to the (to be re-queened colony),
 
3. Capture the old queen in the hive that you have chosen to re queen
   and remove her, keeping her alive until the entire process is complete.
 
4. Alow this colony to remain queenless for 2 days.
 
5. Intorduce the entire nuc to the colony in question,via the newspaper
   method. You have inserted the cork into the nucs queen cage and tied a
   thread around it as before.
 
6. In 2 days pull the tread attached to the cork, the bees eat out the
   candy that you have so thoughtfully relapsed into the hole after             re-caging the new queen in the nuc.
 
7. When the bees are done reading the newspaper, you are done.
 
8. If you are going to medicate with apistan at this time of year,
   wait a couple of weeks to get the ole girl well established.
 
This is a lot of trouble to go to as I'm sure you can see.
There are advantages to fall requeening. The weather is better than
in the spring, queens are more likely to be fully matted. You will have
a young, vibrant, experienced, over wintered,well fed,unstressed queen in the spring.
 
 
de AA1IK,
 
Ernie Gregoire
 
R.R. 1, Box 221,
South Rd.
Canaan, NH. 03741 USA
 
43.6170 N, X 72.0225 W
E-mail address: [log in to unmask]
 
 
 
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02/21/99 13:04:15