>>I tried to requeen a 5 frame nuc at the end of
September during the golden rod flow.

I'd like to add that our September was very dry here on Long Island and just about most goldenrod plants shriveled up and turned brown.  Despite a good start, the goldenrod yield was rather low for us.  A nectar dearth makes queen introduction difficult since a lot of idle bees are on the look-out for intrusions.  Feeding will put the bees in a much happier disposition and help introduction.

>>I killed the old queen and used a 4 1/2 by 4 1/2 by 5/8 inch push in cage screen 8 meshes/inch)...

Not sure if this was your case but it's useful to check for a possible onset of laying workers.  Sometimes a queen loses her scent to the point where the bees feel queenless but sometimes there will not be any eggs for supercedure initiation and some workers will develop and put out a queen scent.  In such a case, the bees will feel queenright and it will not be enough to kill the old queen.  The bees will spare no affort to kill the new queen.

I use the standard shipping cage for introductions.  I tried something recently that seems to work for me.  I make sure there's a [natural or artificial] flow and I go into the hive a day or a day and a half after putting the cage in.  I gently take the cage out and lay it down on top of the frames to observe how the bees behave towards the queen.

If they are pressing hard against the cage, the bees are loyal to another queen's scent and I check for another queen.  If I can't find one (rare), I'll place the hive over a strong, queenright hive.  Any laying workers will not survive the gauntlet...  (Again, make sure both hives have a strong flow or the bees will fight like crazy!)  The next day, I'll make up another hive with young bees and re-introduce the queen.

On the other hand, if the bees are friendly towards the queen to the point of looking mesmorized, I'll take a frame out, lay the cage on top of it, and open the cage.  A couple of bees will go in the cage and the queen will soon walk out and walk over the comb amongst the bees.  She'll stop, sometimes raise her legs and the bees will circle her to pick up the scent and to groom her.  I'll watch for a few minutes for any signs of hostility before carefully re-inserting the frame.  Spraying the frame with sugar water may be a helpful technique.

I have done this several times with Italians and Carniolans.  (I have no experience with Russian crosses.)  If there is a strong flow and the weather is nice, I don't see hostilities.  Should you see hostilities as in the bees trying to ball the queen, you can grab and re-cage the queen.  Just be quick about it.

I feel I have better control over the introduction this way.  I can also take corrective actions before the new queen gets killed.

>>Field bees were not stripped from the nuc because of the danger of hive beetle takeover.

Having said all of the above, it is the easiest to make up a nuc with young and emerging bees for an introduction.  And later join the new nuc with your other hive.

>>Is there a good way to keep the push in
cage from becoming loose when the bees eat the comb
around it?

I made my own push-in cages from #4 mesh screen to protect individual queen cells.  (One can make a larger cage for queen introductions.)  I push these cages into the comb until they stop at the midrib on my plastic frames.  This set-up is bee-proof.  I've had bees chew the wax down to the plastic midrib on the outside of the cage.  But that's about it.

Waldemar

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