At 10:51 AM 4/14/98 -0500, you wrote:
>So there I was, checking to see that my queens had been
>accepted/released from their queen cages in my splits.  In one, the
>queen couldn't get thru the hole in the cage because of the dead workers
>clogging up the works.  So I decided to help her and poked the dead ones
>aside with a large nail.  As I was laying the queen cage back--out she
>came and away she flew.
 
More times then not that queen would come back to the release point. But
also more times then not the beekeepers is not prepared to wait her out. If
you had left the hive in the same condition as it was when she took to wing
chances are she would have returned in a few minutes. At other times she
could be found a short distance away being balled by a small cluster of
workers in a hour or so.
 
I have had more then one queen get out from the cage in my shirt pocket and
had them come back and land on that pocket, but I don't move very fast.<G>
 
>Currently, all my bees/queens are from Hardeman's,  I'm thinking of
>trying some Wilbanks queens.  (Did I mention I only want Italians)
>        All suggestions, experiences and or comments are welcome.
 
Have more then one queen supplier and add at least one to test each season.
 
ttul, the OLd Drone
 
http://209.76.50.54
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