> Again, opinion here is divided.  Personally, I kill the queen and put the mailing cage in straight away. I don't have time to kill queens and then come back to put a cage in.  Some even put the freshly killed queen in the bottom of the cage so the bees know they have a dead queen.

> I have heard of beekeepers releasing the queen straight into the hive but unless it is very good conditions, I feel that you will have more failures than successes.

One thing that I believe has a lot to do with it is location. Or maybe I should say climate.
Having worked with commercial beekeepers in New Zealand, I find requeening quite
different to what I can do here in Sweden on lat 60. If I was to kill a queen and introduce
a new queen in a cage straight away, I would not have much success. She would get
kicked out of the hive too often. Our short and intense season might be the difference
that make bees react so differently.

So bear this in mind when discussing requeening, we are in different climates and
get different reactions from the bees to a new queen. This should be tru in America too,
southern beekeepers will have easier than canadians. Allen, any comments? You
should see this too.

> Overall what you do is what you feel comfortable with and what you have learnt from your mentors.  I always remember a saying that Tilly Kuhnert from Germany told me many years ago.  It was "If you put 4 beekeepers together, you will get 5 opinions".  True?

No, you will get at least 7 opinions........

--
Regards

P-O Gustafsson, Sweden
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