Just did my first cutout yesterday for a friend. Big success, queen caught. How long should I keep her in the cage before releasing her?
I usually keep them caged for 2 days.
Scott
same here 2 days . schawee
I would ask Kenneth and see what he says. :mrgreen:
Why do you cage a queen any longer than necessary if she is from that colony? I always release her as soon as I'm done with the cut-out and have never lost a queen.
I do the same as Robo - never had an issue.... curious as to the two day cageing as well!
I persoally have had several cut outs abscond the next day without caging her. I don't know if it's the stress we put them through or what but I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Scott
OK, absconding seems to be a much bigger issue in the south than up here in the north.
I am with Scott. Better to lose a couple days of egg laying than to lose all the time and effort invested into the cut out. Let them repair and settle into the new home, then let her out. Works well for me too.
down here its a good thing to cage her.absconding is somewhat of a problem down south.
Thank you all! I will be releasing her this morning. @ Randy, Kenneth has applied his professional seal of approval. Good news is, there were some hive beetles in this hive. While cutting out, we tried to avoid putting much of the affected comb into frames. Yesterday afternoon, the bees were hauling several beetles out of their new home. They are quite amazing creatures!