At 07:59 AM 01/05/97 -0400, you wrote:
>Could anyone give me some insight on how to introduce a new queen to a
>colony?  I am a second year bee keeper.
>
>Do I have to find the old queen and destroy her before the introduction?
>
>John M. Wolford
>[log in to unmask]
>
By all means destroy the old queen.
 
If you then wait a few days and cut any queen cells you will increase your
chances of success.  However, as soon as the old queen is destroyed you can
introduce the new queen.  She should be in a cage with the entrance/exit
plugged with candy (or a small marshmallow).  It will take a few days for
the bees to remove the candy and she should then be accepted.
 
You might improve your chances if the queen cage has only the queen and no
attendants.
 
Some beekeepers feel that a squirt of vanilla into the colony and on the
queen masks odours and improves acceptance.
 
To be more certain, make a press in cage, still candy in the entrance, and
confine the new queen over some emerging brood.  The brood will emerge and
immediately accept the queen.  She will be able to start laying within the
cage.  By the time the entrance is chewed out the queen will have her own
attendants and be laying.
 
The press in cage can be made out of something like 1/8 inch wire mesh.  Cut
and bend to create a cage about 3 x 4 inches and a tunnel entrance.  One
side is open and it is pressed into the comb.  This is a rather poor
description.  If there is interest perhaps someone will do better or you
can ask and I will elaborate.  The press in cage is interesting and perhaps
someone with a picture and a scanner could make it available.
 
Good luck with your new Queen.
 
Eric
 
Eric Abell
Gibbons, Alberta Canada T0A 1N0
Ph/fax (403) 998 3143
[log in to unmask]