Robert Granelli asked

> My questions are,
>
> 1)    Is it very important to remove the attendands for the queen
> cage? Does it really threaten the success of requeening.

There is a great difference of opinion on this point.  Some do and some don't.  In Australia, most commercial beekeepers use the mailing cage as the introduction cage and leave the escorts in.  Some take the queen out and use a Miller cage for introduction.  Personally I leave the escorts in as I do not have time to release all the escorts.  I have great success on some days and not so good on others.

Why?  I don't know.  It is one of the great mysteries of beekeeping.  I suspect it has something to do with weather conditons and hive conditions at the time of introdcution and the following couple of days.

Recreational beekeepers have the time to release escorts and tend to do this more.  The real answer is do what you feel comfortable with.  You will probably be influenced by others whom you talk to.

> 2)    I only can check the hive one day a week, so the most I can
> leave my hive queenless is a few hours. If this is not enough time, what
> else can I do. Should I just remove the candy and let the queen in the
> hive or should I just let the bees try and eat it away. Any other
> suggestions?

Again, opinion here is divided.  Personally, I kill the queen and put the mailing cage in straight away. I don't have time to kill queens and then come back to put a cage in.  Some even put the freshly killed queen in the bottom of the cage so the bees know they have a dead queen.  I don't do this as the work by people like Dr. Mark Winston on pheremones show that a hive knows it is queenless within about 15 minutes of the queen being removed.

I posted before that I believe you should let the bees eat out the candy.  Do not put a hole in the candy.  It is my opinion that the longer it takes to release the queen, the better the chances are of a successful introduction.

I have heard of beekeepers releasing the queen straight into the hive but unless it is very good conditions, I feel that you will have more failures than successes.

Overall what you do is what you feel comfortable with and what you have learnt from your mentors.  I always remember a saying that Tilly Kuhnert from Germany told me many years ago.  It was "If you put 4 beekeepers together, you will get 5 opinions".  True?

Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA