Hello Lance,
I should have probabbly sent my response off list but you gave me a choice
and I believe others might learn also. First let me say your queen/package
person should have at least talked to you. The customer is always right up
to a point. I know queen breeders have got strict replacement rules but a
unsatisfied customer hurts business. The queen breeder should have at least
tried to analize the problem like I am about to do. I have no way of knowing
*exactly* what happened to your queen. Because you posted such exact details
I can offer my opinion. Only a opinion.
Lance wrote:
> First the explanation for why I concluded the queen was a "dud:"  She
never did lay after she was released, and queen cells appeared almost
immediately.  I found her during two inspections, but within about two
weeks, she disappeared.
I believe she did lay and possibly you missed seeing the eggs and I will
explain as we walk through your post.

> I didn't disturb them for a full week other than sliding the cover over
far >enough to refill the feeder three days after installation.  When I
inspected >them for the first time I found the queen cage empty, but no eggs
in the >empty cells.
Now the eggs from the original nuc have hatched and are larva to old for the
bees to raise a queen from. You were pretty sure you saw no eggs but I
believe there were eggs UNLESS you didn't mention putting in a fresh frame
of eggs in your post.

 < I did a quick inspection of the four frames of comb, but I didn't find
the <queen.
Nothing to be ashamed of not finding the queen but I believe you must have
overlooked her.
> Two days later I looked in on them again and found the queen roaming the
>combs,
The important thing here is she was on frames of brood where eggs are
supposed to go. I am always leary of queens on frames of honey or off in the
corner of the box. Young queens tend to move about quite a bit until they
*settle down*.
 >but still no eggs.
I believe there were but you missed the eggs. Get the sun to your back and
look closely.  There should have been larva also. Because you built your nuc
with a large amount of eggs and larva you made egg determination harder.
Most start nucs with emerging brood.
> I presume that it was the same queen that had been released from the cage
>that came with the package, but she wasn't marked so I can't be absolutely
>certain.
I believe it was because you saw no queen cells and the time was to short
for the bees to raise a new queen. You might have missed eggs but I don't
believe you would have missed queen cells.
>I also found supersedure cells.
This tells me beyound a shadow of a doubt that the queen you introduced had
layed eggs and because you describe them as  supercedure cells that the bees
had used larva from out of the brood rearing oval.
>  Three days later I inspected the colony again and found the exact same
>thing: queen still wandering the combs, but no eggs.
By now you should have had larva which are easier to see.
> Two weeks after installation I still found no eggs, !
Because of the queen cells I believe she at least laid some eggs but don't
understand the lack of larva if she did. The eggs had to be viable because
bees are picky about larva they raise queens from (most of the time). When
you graft 100 queen cells and the bees throw the larva every once in awhile
out by 50% I know they are finding something not to their liking. About the
best take is 95% but never 100%(at least not on graphs I have been involved
in).
> and now no queen.
I can only give one possable senario. Whenever you see supercedure cells
your queen is in danger. Supercedure cells indicate low pheromone production
or the bees consider the queen defective. In plain terms she can be balled
and tossed out the door at any time. I have no way of knowing if your queen
had problems but supercedure cells are a excellent indicator. You didn't say
if she was instrumentally inseminated. Many stories of introductions such as
yours occur at times with I I queens. I have had queens from breeders start
to lay the same day as released from the cage while others might wait up to
one week. I have also (like you) had queens which never laid the first egg.
Rare but happens. Introduction problems with Russian queens (and I suspect
SMR queens) do happen. I and others more knowledgeable than myself don't
really know why.
> The breeder personally placed the package in my car when I picked it up,
>and told me to be sure to let him know how they did since it was an
<experimental queen.  I never did hear from him so I ordered a Russian queen
>from another breeder.
I believe you should have had the chance to at least receive advice. He lost
you as a future customer by not returning your call. This is a busy time .
Try again later and at least get his explanation. So far you have only
talked to the girl in the office.

 > I received and installed her using a push in cage over empty !
> cells during the third week, leaving them alone for another week with the
>intention of manually releasing her.  When I next inspected them I found
that >the comb had been chewed from around the push in cage (which now had
>several workers milling around in it), and no signs of the queen.
I would have done a couple things different here. Laying workers were about
to happen so I would have rebuilt the nuc with fresh frames of brood. I
would have used sealed brood and put the push in cage over sealed emerging
brood.
 .>and try introducing a queen of more conventional genetic (Italian)
material .
It is true certain queens are harder to introduce. My close friend and I
worry when we introduce a  instrumentally inseminated queens. I priced a top
queen from the Ohio Queen Breeders the other day. Around a thousand dollars.
Only guarantee is to arrive alive. Fifth generation SMR I believe Joe said.
The current Marla Spivak II hygienic breeder queen has produced over a
thousand daughters and is still laying. She was a bargain but wouldn't have
been if she had died in the introduction phase. Chance you take
Sorry if I embarrassed you by looking closely at your problem. You gave
exact details so I could venture a guess. You sound like the type of
beekeeper the craft needs.
Your friend,
Bob Harrison
Odessa, Missouri