* Every year I hear people say that queen supersedure is "worse than
ever". This problem, however, has been with us for decades and the
following, found in an old bee journal from 1937, offers some good
advice:

> Most all supersedures are caused by *abnormal conditions*. Some causes of abnormal conditions are: Improper handling, lack of pollen and nectar, the weather, etc.

> When a package of bees is received , the bees should be fed all the warm sugar syrup they will take; at least two ten-pound pails of the above mentioned syrup should be placed above them and covered up with some packing that will keep them warm.

> The next most important things is to *leave them alone* for about two weeks; then if the weather is nice, one may refill the cans. The feed cans should be kept on the bees until there is a surplus coming from the field.

> The above method of feeding is much better than giving frames of honey. With the above preparation the weather will not interfere with their activity; the queen will soon be laying at full capacity, and they are just one happy family.

A couple of months later this comment was printed:

> I am glad you quoted Mr. Burleson who seems to believe that early supersedure is due to carelessness on the part of the beekeeper receiving a package.

> I have received packages for 15 years and have had no trouble with supersedure. I get my bees from a good producer. I have seen packages that go bow-wow and try to supersede and I am sure it was not the fault of the receiver. The queens were not good: the breeder used old larvae, chilled the queen or treated it just plain rough or careless all the way from the egg to the package.


-- 
pb

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