Hi:  Although this topic is debated, there is at least one European paper
that suggests that the failure of queens to lay when kept inside flight
chamber rooms is a function of photoperiod.  Supposedly, if one increases
the effective daylength by 15 minute intervals, the queen will begin
laying again.  Jumping the daylength from a short outdoor photoperiod
(assuming you are moving the queens indoors) to a long daylength doesn't
work.  To reprogram the queen, you have to increase the time more
gradually, although the 15 minute per day jumps can be used to speed up
the process.
 
If I wasn't in a rush, I'd pull the reference and post it.  As it is, I
have to get back to plowing the most recent dump of snow from my drive on
the hill (we now stand at over 40" for the month, got another 4-8" last
night).
 
Cheers
 
Jerry Bromenshenk
The University of Montana-Missoula
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