So my hive went queenless. Here's a video of me introducing my queen. At the end you can see how the bees react to her. Watch up until the very end.
What's your take. Are they agressive to her, or are they excited to have a new queen?
Ken
Introducing-my-queen.mpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5igavPNOBs#ws)
they look kind of aggressive to me. i sure wouldn't be in any hurry to turn her loose. they aren't horrible. they didn't swarm over the cage and smother her, but it looks like they are biting at the screen.
how long has the hive been queenless and are you very sure they are?
requeening can be difficult and there should be no rush to have her loose unless you are very sure they have fully accepted her.
I'm guessing the hive has been queenless for about a month.
Great video! Let us know how it turns out........
Interesting mix of dark bees and more stereotypical brownish/amber bees in that hive.
Be sure to let us know what you ended up doing and how it turned out.
Yes. That old queen was a real italian mut. It was fun to watch the different types of bees come and go. I'm going to miss that.
I would be curious to know if they accepted her. Please post here what happens.
I once placed a queen cage into a queenless hive and they acted just like that. They had accepted my queen.