http://www.bushfarms.com/beeslayingworkers.htmIf you really want to introduce a bought queen, I would give them a frame of open brood from another hive now. Then in about a week put the new queen in a push in cage over some emerging brood and a little bit of honey. Don't let her out of the cage until the bees are not biting on the cage anymore. The larger the cage the better. I'd go for 5 1/2" by 8" of #8 hardware cloth (8 wires to an inch). Just cut a piece of hardware cloth 3/4" more than that and fray off three rows of wires all the way around. Then 3/4" from the corners of the wire ends, cut 3/4" into it (3 wires past where you removed the wires). Fold the edges 3 wires in over to make the sides and fold the excess 3/4" around the corner. This will push into the comb 3/8" and stick up from the comb 3/8". Be sure to leave 3/8" between the top of the cage and the next frame. This may require removing a frame but at least will require crowding them all to the outsides.
http://www.honeyflowfarm.com/beeproject/images/puchincagelarge.jpghttp://www.honeyflowfarm.com/beeproject/images/puchincage.jpgHere's Doolittle's description of it:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesdoolittle.htm#ValuableQueen"Having the Queen's wings clipped, and in the cage, I next take a piece of wire-cloth, containing 14 or 16 meshes to the inch, and cut it four-and-one-half by eight-and-one-half inches in size. Now cut a piece three-fourths of any inch square out of each corner, and bend the four sides at right angles, so as to make a box, as it were, three inches wide by seven inches long, and three-fourths of an inch deep. Next, unravel the edges down one-half way, so that the points can be pressed into the combs, and if the corners do not stay together as they should, they can be sowed together with one of the wires which were unraveled [Fig. 5, page 50].
"Having the cage ready, and the Queen to be introduced, in your pocket, proceed to look for the Queen to be replaced, and after removing her, examine the combs until you find one from which the bees are just hatching, or where you can see them gnawing at the cappings of the cells, which comb should also have some honey along the top-bar of the frame above the hatching brood.
"Now shake and brush every bee off this comb, and place the Queen that you have in your pocket on it, by putting the open end of the cage near the comb over some cells of unsealed honey, when she will go to the comb, and as soon as she comes to the honey, she will begin eating. While she is doing this, put the large cage over her and the hatching brood, as you wish, taking all of the time that is needed, for as long as she continues eating, she will not go away, nor be disturbed by any of your motions.
"Having honey in the cage is necessary, for the bees outside of the cage cannot be depended upon to feed a Queen when she is being introduced. Some claim that if the cage is made of wire-cloth having large meshes, the bees will feed them; but after losing many Queens by depending upon the bees to care for them, I say always provision your introducing-cage in some way, so that the Queen is not dependent upon the bees for her food while in the cage. "--G.M. Doolittle, Scientific queen-rearing
Topic: problem in hive (Read 2470 times)