I had read that a good method of requeening was to chase in virgin queens
through the top of the hive.  I had never tried this until last week.  I had
4  very strong nucs that had rejected their queens.  I tried giving 3  of
them ripe cells but only one of them ended up with a mated queen.  By this
time the other 3 had been queenless for over 2 weeks.  My brother-in-law
called and offered me 3 very large virgin queens that he had found in one of
his supers.  I placed the queens in their cages over the holes on the inner
covers of the three hives.  The hive bees ignored them except to feed them.
The next morning smoked the hives good and released the virgin queens into
the top of the hives.  Four days later 2 of them were laying well and I
couldn't find the third one.  Today, 1 1/2 weeks after release, I found the
third one.  She appears to have started laying about 4 days ago.  This is
something I intend to try again.  I would like to know if anyone else has
tried this.
 
Frank Humphrey
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