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The Introduction Of Queen Honey BeesA book, which I borrowed from the Federation library recently, entitled "The Introduction of Queen Bees" by LE. Snelgrove, lists at least thirty-five separate methods of queen introduction. Many of the methods mentioned are probably no longer practised. However the book is well worth reading, not just to learn methods of queen introduction, but more importantly, to improve one's knowledge regarding the importance of requeening, colony behaviour under various circumstances, and conditions which make requeening necessary. |
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 Dark queen bee |
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There is no doubt that the queen bee is the most important individual in a colony of honeybees. She is the mother of the colony and if she is absent and the colony has no means of replacing her such as worker eggs or larvae under two days old then the colony is doomed to die. Furthermore if the queen is unable to function at maximum performance the colony cannot be expected to thrive or give an economic return in terms of surplus honey. One of the queen's main functions is to produce "queen substance" which may be described as a chemical pheromone the purpose of which is the cohesion of the colony, prevention of swarming, and the inhibition of ovary development in worker bees. The queen is also responsible for the inherited characteristics of her daughters, the worker bees, e.g. productivity, docility or aggressiveness, inclination to swarming or supersedure, etc. Not only are these traits transmitted to the worker bees of her own colony but she also has the potential to pass on these qualities to future generations through her daughter queens and her sons, the drones, which may be destined to mate with young queens from other colonies in the locality.
Even two thousand years ago, the Roman beekeepers knew that it was possible to change the queen in a colony of bees and that by so doing, the disposition or temperament of the worker bees in the colony could be changed. We are not told how the beekeepers of ancient Rome went about introducing their queens, but writers in both the first century B.C., and the first century A.D., refer to requeening as though it was an ordinary practice among beekeepers of the time. For centuries beekeepers have devised and recorded various methods of queen introduction and have designed a multitude of queen introduction cages of various types to help make the operation more successful. However if one is looking for a couple of simple yet safe methods it should be quite sufficient to refer to Ted Hooper's section on queen introduction in his book "Guide to Bees and Honey".
Both the colony and the queen should be in the right condition to accept each other. Where the queen in full lay is being replaced, the introduced queen should also be in full lay.
Queens which have travelled through the post are not in normal laying condition, therefore it is safer to introduce these queens first to a nucleus, and when they come into full lay to unite the nucleus to the larger colony.
The colony must be queenless, or if not it should be made so. This is stating the obvious, but many queens are lost on this count. If there are no eggs or brood present and no queen can be seen, do not be too sure that a queen is not present. It is always safer to introduce a frame with eggs to such a colony as a test, and check it after a few days for the presence of queen cells. If queen cells have been raised it is then safe to assume that the colony is queenless and a new queen may be introduced. However there is one situation when such a test comb may not give a reliable indication and that is when a colony has just swarmed and has a young mated queen, not yet laying.
The bees of the colony should come into direct contact with the queen very slowly and this can be achieved by using a proper slow releasing queen introduction cage.
The queen should be hungry enough to solicit food from any worker with which she comes in contact.
The greater the population of a colony, the more difficult it is to re queen, so that introduction before April or after August when colony populations are low may be expected to give the highest success rates. Spring requeening is generally very successful especially when undertaken during a minor honey flow.
The queen being introduced should be in an undisturbed condition and her odour should be masked, or her direct contact with the bees of the hive to which she is being introduced should be delayed, until her scent has changed to their own. Having said that, however, Bro. Adam maintains that colony odour plays no part in the success of queen introduction and that it depends very much on the behaviour of the queen. Young queens are generally nervous and do not behave in a sedate manner until they have reached a certain state of maturity which occurs about eight weeks after the queen has started to lay.
The colony should not be in an excited condition such as during swarming, or when a nectar flow has just ceased, or a spate of robbing is in progress. It is better to use the nucleus method (mentioned at 1. above) under such conditions.
Requeening with a queen of the same strain is generally easier than with a queen of a different strain. A yellow queen into a black colony is particularly difficult, whereas the reverse is relatively easy.
There is a better chance of success in the evening when bees have ceased flying than during the active period of the day.
Never try to introduce a valuable queen to a colony which has been queenless for a long period. It is better to use a protected queen cell or give a frame of eggs to see if it can raise a queen itself.
 Butler cage and Worth cage |
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From time to time a host of different types of introduction cages have been designed by beekeepers, but the one most commonly used today is known as the "Butler cage" which was invented by Dr. Colin Butler of Rothamstead in England. It is made from wire gauze having a mesh of 1/8" and is approximately 4" long with a Cross section of 3/4;" x 1/2.". It is plugged at one end with a piece of wood to a depth of about 1". The other end of the cage is open and the queen is generally lifted by the wings and made to walk into it through this end, or if she is being taken from a comb or window pane she can be shepherded in. The open end is then covered with the thumb or fore-finger of the left hand to prevent her getting out, while with the right hand a piece of newspaper is placed over the open end and this is kept in place by an elastic band. The cage is then suspended in the centre of the broodnest between two frames preferably in a position where the entrance to the cage is surrounded by sealed brood, so that when the bees of the hive have eaten away the paper to release the queen, she will immediately walk onto the surface of the brood where she would be in her most natural environment.
Two 1" panel pins can be driven into the wood blocking the end of the cage so that about three quarters of an inch of the pins project from either side, this makes it easier to suspend the cage between two adjoining combs, with the open paper covered end downwards and thus secured, it is prevented from falling to the floor of the hive. The queen should be put into the introduction cage on her own - never with accompanying workers - as they might try to defend their queen and get her killed in the process.
Having placed the cage in position the hive should be quietly closed up and left severely alone for six days. The process of familiarization between the queen and the worker bees of the hive will start immediately. Through the holes in the cage they can make contact with each other by means of their antennae. The hive bees can lick the queen and feed her and they will release her within a few hours by biting through the newspaper. After six days the colony should be examined to make sure the queen is laying. The empty cage can be removed and a check made to ensure that emergency cells have not been started.
Emergency cells are sometimes started, even on the eggs of the introduced queen, and if found they should be destroyed. The reason for their presence is probably due to the fact that the new queen has not yet come into full lay, as may be the case in a young queen or one which has been received through the post, and the bees mistake her for a queen which is failing and going off lay instead of one which is coming into lay, and their natural instinct is to supersede her. Supersedure may well occur at this point unless the remedial step of destroying the queen cells is undertaken. An introduced queen should always have a distinctive mark, so that the beekeeper will know that it is she, which in fact survives. As a rule when such emergency cells have been found and destroyed, the new queen is fully accepted and there are no further problems.
 Cell protection cage |
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A ladies plastic hair curler, available at most chemists or superstores, may be used as a substitute for the "Butler cage", or the travelling cage may be used after the accompanying bees have been released from it. The thing to make sure of is that these cages have holes sufficiently large for the bees to lick and feed the queen. Also in the case of travelling cages, there may be an added risk of disease either from the cage itself or from the honey which was used to make the cage candy. A well-aired matchbox serves as an excellent introduction cage, and it is the usual practice to place it over the top bars of the brood frames, under the quilt or at the feed-hole of the crownboard. The drawer of the matchbox is withdrawn to allow an opening of about 1/8", through which the worker bees can lick the queen for some time prior to freeing her by chewing a hole sufficiently large to allow her out of the box.
An alternative to using newspaper to confine the queen in the cage is to plug the end with soft baker's fondant, or a candy which is made by mixing icing sugar with warm honey, until a stiff but kneadable consistency has been attained. It probably takes a little longer for the bees to release the queen by eating the candy than it does by chewing the newspaper. In either case the queen can be expected to be released from the cage within a matter of hours.
The Nucleus Method Of Queen Introduction
This method is much more likely to be successful during the swarming season, or if there is much excitement due to robbing, or during the main honey flow, etc. If the colony is making preparations to swarm the queen is killed or removed and the colony is left queenless for at least a week, or until the next inspection. If the colony is not preparing to swarm, the old queen may be left to carry on until the new queen in the nucleus is ready to be introduced. In either case the first thing to do is to find the old queen and either kill her or place her in a matchbox with a few bees to look after her. A five frame nucleus box is placed beside the hive to be requeened and facing in the same direction. A frame of emerging brood is taken from the broodnest, given a gentle shake to dislodge any flying bees, and placed in the nuc box over the broodchamber of the hive to dislodge the older bees, then given a sharp shake into the nuc box to dislodge the remaining young bees which cling on to the comb. These frames are then returned to the original colony. A new laying queen is placed in a "Butler" cage between the two frames of the nucleus, and a dummy board is placed on either side. Nucleus and main colony are then closed up and left undisturbed for about a week. After one week the nucleus colony is examined first and the queen is inspected to make sure that she has no obvious infirmities (e.g. a missing leg, etc.), and that she has been laying for a few days. If all is in order the empty cage is removed, the two frames are moved to the centre of the nuc box and the dummy boards removed. When the outer surfaces of the frames are thus exposed to the light the queen will move in between them where she will remain in the darkness. The main colony is now opened and the queen is found and removed, or in the case of a swarming colony from which the queen has been removed, all the queen cells are destroyed. It is very important that any colony from which a queen has been removed should be examined carefully before introducing a new queen in case there are swarm or supersedure cells present. The two frames are now lifted from the nuc box, taking care not to damage the queen which is between them and they are placed in the main colony from which they were taken a week previously. It is a good idea to spray both the nucleus and colony with water from a fine mist sprayer so as to stop the bees from running about. This has the effect of stopping them in their tracks and helps to calm them down. Their attention will be occupied for some time in mopping up the water and will generally help to ensure the success of the introduction. The hive should now be closed up and left alone for six days after which time the colony should be inspected to make sure that the queen is laying and all is well. (Reference:- "Guide to Bees and Honey" by Ted Hooper.) |
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Originated... March 2006, Transferred To New Domain... 30 June 2007,
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