OK, I have a queen that I would like to keep in a cage for a week or so. I have a few JZ cages. What is the best way to do this?
I plan to put her in a JZ with a few attendants.
Can I just put her in another queenright hive?
Also, I have a swarm that I want to use her for because I suspect the swarm may be AHB. When would be the best time to replace the queen? I just put the swarm back in the hive after the absconded this morning.
Kill the queen tonight and put her in, caged, tomorrow. The earlier, the better.
I am bumping this because I still need to know how to store a queen. I will put her in a JZ with attendants, but can I put the cage ina queenright hive to keep her alive?
I'm no queen breeder(yet anyways) but I would say no. Her attendants will like just end up dead from trying to fight through the sides of the cage with the hive workers. I suppose you could make a two frame nuc with some frames of nurse bees and then cage her with them to keep her alive for awhile. Just remember the longer you cage her the more troubles with her acceptance/performance you're likely to have. Doing a search on banking queens might uncover the info you're looking for.
I have not had to do it but I have read on here before that to put her in a cage with a few attendents and give them a drop or 2 of sugar water each day. I don't know how long you can keep one like this but a few days would not be a problem
Why not put her to work in a nuc and when you need her she will be ready.
Quote from: MacfromNS on May 09, 2009, 07:19:12 PM
Why not put her to work in a nuc and when you need her she will be ready.
This is almost what I did. I moved the existing queen from the hive to a nuc with a frame full of bees. I figured that may be enough to be viable, but even if it isn't, they will keep her alive.
I plan to move the new queen in tomorrow in a JZ cage. This way, I have the old queen to fall back on if there is a problem. Plus, there is a chance that the old queen can build up the nuc to a viable hive and I will have gotten two hives from the swarm.
Assuming you have candy in the cage and attendants in the cage a drop of water now and then will do. Keep them in a dark quiet place if you can. You can also make a small box and add some workers to the box, some candy and a small wet sponge and let the workers outside the cage take care of the queen.