Yesterday a friend picked up a queen for me. I had a big hive that I split yesterday evening with the intention of installing the queen this evening. Well, as we were splitting the hive it started raining, so we closed up the hives without figuring out where the queen was. I figured I would figure that out today then install queen.
Today - rain, in the 40s. Tomorrows forecast rain morning, 40s. Sunday cloudy low 50s maybe more rain. Monday low 60s, small chance of rain.
There are three queen cells (don't know if occupied or not) in the split that I think doesn't have the queen.
How long can I hang on to the queen safely? I put her cage and attendants in a container with a plastic bottle cap of water and another of honey in a room in the mid to upper 60s.
At what temp can I examine the hives for the queen without killing brood?
Any help please?!
JC
If you have the queen with some water and attendants you should be able to keep her for a few days with no problems.
Sincerely,
Brendhan