As I mentioned in another post, I recently bought a couple of packages.  Besides being made of plastic, a new one for me, the queen cages, the old style screened wooden ones, did not have candy plugs, only cork.  The seller provided mini marshmallows to stuff into the holes to delay release, another first for me.  They also recommended placing a queen excluder under the box for several days, because there had been reports of bees absconding a day or so after introduction (from those, who picked up packages the week before).  Wondering if the marshmallows were too easy/quick to remove and a few colonies (out of 1000+) absconded?  Even though I've never had a package abscond, I did the excluder trick.  If it made a difference I know not, but both packages settled in fine.

Bill
Claremont, NH US 

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