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Author Topic: How long for candy plug?  (Read 6022 times)

Offline dogdrs

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How long for candy plug?
« on: June 26, 2009, 12:01:21 pm »
As I posted yesterday, I am splitting a two deep hive this weekend and putting in a new, purchased queen in a queen cage.  My plan is to take the box of bees to a new location probably Saturday then introduce the queen on Sunday.  After 24 hrs I'm hoping she will be accepted.  My question is, how long does it usually take the workers to eat through the candy plug?  Will it be enough time for them to be accepting or should I keep the candy covered for a few days?

Offline Joelel

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Re: How long for candy plug?
« Reply #1 on: June 26, 2009, 12:57:00 pm »
As I posted yesterday, I am splitting a two deep hive this weekend and putting in a new, purchased queen in a queen cage.  My plan is to take the box of bees to a new location probably Saturday then introduce the queen on Sunday.  After 24 hrs I'm hoping she will be accepted.  My question is, how long does it usually take the workers to eat through the candy plug?  Will it be enough time for them to be accepting or should I keep the candy covered for a few days?

INSTRUCTIONS FOR INTRODUCING QUEENS
You should have read one of the books on beekeeping that we list in our brochure. For those who have not, here are some brief instructions:

Make sure your hive is queenless. (Finding queens for requeening colonies is a subject for another set of instructions). You may install the new queen immediately after killing the old one but it is best to wait a day, or you may wait as long as four or five days. Remove the cork from the candy end of the queen mailing cage. If the candy is hard, make a small nail hole almost all the way through it. If the candy is soft, don't do anything with it. It is not necessary to remove the attendant bees from the queen cage, but some beekeepers believe it helps. If you have 10 frames in your hive you might have to remove one of the wall combs to be able to wedge the queen cage between two of the center combs with the screen on the cage exposed downward so the bees in your hive can communicate with the queen. The cage should be slanted with the candy end lower that the other end. The queen must be placed in the part of the hive where the bees are clustered. Close the hive and wait five to seven days before opening it. At that time the queen should be out of the cage, and she should have laid eggs in one or two of the combs. If she is not out of the cage, release her by taking the screen off, then check back in four or five days to see if she is laying.

If you know a method that works for you then use it.

Hives that have been queenless so long that all of the brood has hatched out, and hives that have developed laying workers do not accept new queens very well. Such hives should be given one or two combs with open brood in them from another hive if you have it available before you introduce the new queen.

Acts2:37: Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?
38: Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
39: For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
40: And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save yourselves from this untoward generation

Offline Hethen57

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Re: How long for candy plug?
« Reply #2 on: June 26, 2009, 01:03:19 pm »
It depends how soft the candy is....the last one I did a couple of weeks ago...they had her out the next day.  I was really glad I had left her in there without the plug expose for 3 days prior to that because they may have killed her with such a quick release.  The candy plug was soft.  I would imagine hard candy would take a couple of days.
-Mike

Offline Natalie

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Re: How long for candy plug?
« Reply #3 on: June 26, 2009, 01:18:03 pm »
You usually you check if the bees have eaten through the candy plug in 3 days, if they have not then you can release her yourself if they are acting like they accept her.
I think 24 hours is pushing it.
Its different when they are shipped from somewhere with the bees and the caged queen together, they could be in transit for a couple of days and an earlier release would work because she has had time for the phermones to spread throughout the colony, but if you are putting a purchased queen in with a split I think three days is the better bet.
If you check in on her after a couple of days and she has not been released see how they are acting towards here.
If they seem to be trying to feed her through the cage and you can brush them off the cage easily with your hand then they are accepting her, if they are balled up tight on top of the cage and don't want to be brushed off they are still acting aggressively and you should wait to release her.

Offline Kathyp

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Re: How long for candy plug?
« Reply #4 on: June 28, 2009, 01:16:53 am »
i put one in on Tuesday and forgot about her until today.  i had to release her.  that's ok.  longer is better sometimes.....
Someone really ought to tell them that the world of Ayn Rand?s novel was not meant to be aspirational.