Janez GREGORI

Janez POKLUKAR

Janez MIHELIČ

How do we proceed with a queen obtained from a breeder?

If the weather is favourable, the requeening is done by removing the old queen from the hive, and immediately introducing the young one in the queen cage in which we obtained the queen. It is placed in such a way that external bees have access to the openings or net, through which they come in contact with the queen. We check where in the queen cage the sugar candy for bees is located, and open the cage from the outside so that the hive bees come in contact with the candy. The bees will soon come to the queen so that she can leave the queen cage.

When introducing a queen to a queenless colony, the transport queen cage is placed as possible among the combs. It is placed in such a way that access of the workers is enabled to the openings, through which they have contact with the queen. The following day, we check the mood in the colony. If the workers are laying siege to the queen, they fan their wings and can be easily removed from the queen cage, we quietly enable access to the bee candy and close the hive. If the bees are restless and are difficult to remove from the queen cage, we wait a day. If the state is no different the following day, it is best to remove the queen cage with the queen, and put in the hive an unsealed  brood comb and check whether the colony is really queenless.