A question about Queen Reintroduction

[blackforest beekeeper]

looks like a supercedure. you may try to take it to a nuke, but probably the old lady will quit pretty soon. watch out for this and be ready (with a cell or a queen).

[TheHoneyPump]

Supercedure in progress.
My suggestion at this point would be to leave the cell in the hive and move the old tattered queen to a nuc with a small amount of bees and brood to support her. 
Let the hive requeen itself with the cell.  Keep the old queen as the safe backup contingency.  Should the hive requeening fail, you will have options.

[cao]

X2 What TheHoneyPump said.

[blackforest beekeeper]

that`s what I wanted to imply. should have typed it all the way...
good luck.
supercedure-queens may well be the best to be had - if the old lady was a good one, that is.

[CoolBees]

Thank you Blackforest, Honey pump, and Cao.

That brings another New-Bee question - how to catch the queen? Delicately I'm sure. I know this is an age-old topic, but not one I've studied, or gotten prepared for - Dope! This should be fun ...   

[blackforest beekeeper]

jooost take the comb with the queen on it.

otherwise: I take em by the wings. there are special catching-devices. i only tried one and I was not so satisfied with it.

[BeeMaster2]

Get a plastic queen catcher. There are 2 plastic ones that I know of. One is soft plastic and the other is hard plastic. The hard plastic has a higher chance o hurting the queen and they break very easily. The soft ones are safer and very flexible and hard to break.
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

Alan I have the stainless steel catchers, (clip type) and the hard plastic. I never use the stainless.  I go  with hard plastic and I like these the best.  Blackforest way is the way that pros seem to catch the queens. I have not built up enough confidence in my wing catching skills to do this. I am not sure I will not damage the wings. This was a problem for me when placing the breeder queen into the nicot grid. When the queen catcher is opened, it has a split or opening all the width of the clip making this especially tricky when placing a queen in a marking cage from a queen clip. So here is my solution. I opened the empty hard plastic clip wide enough for a queen to easily escape. Held it at this width after heating a straightened our paper clip and working the heated end of the paper clip through the clips sides, creating a hole enabling the clip to hold open at this desired width. I added a (flap) using duct tape doubled over so no bee would become stuck to the duct tape. Then I simply split the duct tape to the desired width creating the perfect size opening for the clip allowing the queen to go through only at the created pass. That way there is hardly any chance of her going anywhere except the desired place that I want her. No flying off but into the marking cage or nicot grid and I never touch her. Safe and absolutely effective. I simply hold the flap back when catching a queen. Once caught, I close the clip, fold the flap over covering the opening, open wide enough to insert the paper clip, open small opening part of flap with my finger in place so she can?t escape, but  this clip opening  to marking cage or nicot opening and let her walk right in. So easy a child can do it. Good luck. By the way, I have never seen this done so I have patent rights as proven an dated here haa haa .
Phillip

[blackforest beekeeper]

putting a queen in a cage...
...what I usually do, if I can`t hold her by the wings or in case I ever used one of the devices Jim and Philip described: I "throw" her into my hand, close it carefully (she can stay in there for a bit in case the cage ain`t ready). I form a circle with my forefinger wide enough for the queen and put the nicot-cage on top. she will crawl up and everything is fine.

[Ben Framed]

putting a queen in a cage...
...what I usually do, if I can`t hold her by the wings or in case I ever used one of the devices Jim and Philip described: I "throw" her into my hand, close it carefully (she can stay in there for a bit in case the cage ain`t ready). I form a circle with my forefinger wide enough for the queen and put the nicot-cage on top. she will crawl up and everything is fine.

blackforest, I have searched videos trying to find a really good close up of someone catching a queen by the wings and have yet to have found one. Sure there are several videos telling and showing how this is done but not zoomed in enough that a person, without experience or the aid of a mentor,  such myself, to do  me any good. This is something I would really like to see up close. 
Phillip

[BeeMaster2]

If I do not have a queen catcher, I will pick the queen up by her thorax and put her in the closed palm of my hand like Blackforest. It makes it easy to put her in a one handed queen catcher. Just open the area between your thumb and index finger and she will crawl right in.
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

If I do not have a queen catcher, I will pick the queen up by her thorax and put her in the closed palm of my hand like Blackforest. It makes it easy to put her in a one handed queen catcher. Just open the area between your thumb and index finger and she will crawl right in.
Jim Altmiller

This is something I have yet built confidence in doing for the idea of mashing her. Have y'all ever killed one this way?  Maybe they are tougher than they appear? I sure  would like to handle them this way.
Phillip

[BeeMaster2]

Then start picking up drones on the comb with bees all around them. When I am in a Nuc that cannot support them, usually a swarm or a new split, I pick out all the drones and then crush them to make sure they cannot return. Just be careful not to squeeze the queens abdomen. You are going to have to be able to work with your bare hands before you can do this. Just smoke your hands before working in your hives.
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

Then start picking up drones on the comb with bees all around them. When I am in a Nuc that cannot support them, usually a swarm or a new split, I pick out all the drones and then crush them to make sure they cannot return. Just be careful not to squeeze the queens abdomen. You are going to have to be able to work with your bare hands before you can do this. Just smoke your hands before working in your hives.
Jim Altmiller

Good advise, thanks Jim

[CoolBees]

Thank all of your for your insightful responses. I've bookmarked this so I can refer to it in the future.

For now, in the interest of time, I newspaper combined 2 smaller (queen unsuccessful) nucs onto this one on Sunday, to give this hive a boost before splitting again.

Today, I split them. The large queen cell was still capped thankfully. I found Mrs Tatters (ref her frayed wings) stomping around in the same spot she was before. After setting up the nuc for her, I simply layed my hive tool in front of her. She climbed on and I moved her to the new nuc where she climbed off. Short ride and she didn't seem to mind.

Then I switched places with the nucs so she will get all the returning field bees. The original nuc has plenty of nurse bees and capped brood. So we shall see what happens.

Next order I place, I'll include a queen catcher ... or 2. 

[Ben Framed]

Man, with your bee  training abilities you do not need a queen catcher!!  lol That is the neatest trick I have heard of in bee keeping!!  I bet you was pleased and smiling!!

[CoolBees]

Haha Phillip, I just don't know no better!!  ... besides, with her tattered wings, I figured she wouldn't try to go far.

Truth be told, I had a tube at work that I figured would be perfect for the job ... so I left it at work ... like an idiot. 

[BeeMaster2]

Alan,
Old time beekeepers used to place a glass tube over the queens and they would craw in. My deceased father in law taught me that trick.
Jim Altmiller

[TheHoneyPump]

Mrs Tatters. - Love it! 

[CoolBees]

Alan,
Old time beekeepers used to place a glass tube over the queens and they would craw in. My deceased father in law taught me that trick.
Jim Altmiller

Thanks Jim. It made simple country sense to me. ... except. ... I didn't bring it ...  ... maybe I'll try it next time.