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Subject:
From:
John Burgess <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
John Burgess <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Thu, 6 May 1999 08:48:27 +0100
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Ted Fischer recounted:

>The colony's queens never
>were seen in the vicinity of the queen cages, and evidently paid no
>attention to these visiting queens.
>
One method reputed to work for finding difficult queens is to pin a dead
queen (preserved in the freezer) to the top bar of a frame in the brood box,
and close down for ten minutes. The theory is that the live queen will seek
out the supposed rival and can easily be found close to the dead queen.

I have had my doubts about this method, mainly about the survival of
pheremones on a long-dead queen. Ted's observations that the colony's queen
appears to be indifferent to his stored queens reinforces my doubts.

Has anyone had any personal experience, either way, of this method of
finding queens?

John Burgess, Editor Gwenynwyr Cymru/The Welsh Beekeeper
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If you don't change direction, you'll end up where you're going

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