> To do this, take your hive boxes, one by one about 100 feet
> from the hive, and shake all, and I mean all the bees out on the ground.
> Then take the empty boxes with the frames, back to the original position.
> The regular workers will get back safely...
 
Good and standard advice, however this is only true if the bees have been
flying freely.  If they have been confined by weather for several days,
they will not know their way home and may either remain as a clump or
randomly enter any hives they can find.
 
>  I've heard it said the screen should point downward, but before I heard
> that, I point it upwards, no ill effects...
 
Either way can have problems. Although the downwards orientation is better
in some ways, dead attendants can block the hole and keep the queen in.
We prefer to lay the cage on top of and  *across*   the top bars (so the
bees can contact the new queen) with a sack or a sheet of plastic under
the lid to make a seal.  As long as this space is in the cluster it is
trouble free.
 
>  In> about a week, look to see if there are fresh eggs and larvae.  If so all is
> well with the new queen.  If not try again.
 
We never (almost) try a second time to introduce a new queen. Here's why:
by the time they have been discovered queenless and the requeening attempt
has failed, the bees are so old that introduction is tricky, and the
second queen is likely wasted.
 
In such a case, we combine the hive with another, and make a split later.
 
Allen