Queen Introduction (package): BETWEEN-frame or TOP-of frame

[Hemlock]

I have seen where Queen cages are placed on the foundation between frames.  Yet other beeks say to place the Queen cage on top of the frames.

Is there an advantage to one over the other?

[John Schwartz]

From my perspective, down inside is best as this provides better opportunity for keeping her warm, fed and accepted.

[wd]

the cage can disturb new comb built

[iddee]

There's a queen breeder here in NC that buys hundreds of queens each year. He just lays them on the bottom board.

I don't think it makes a lot of difference where you put her, as long as the workers can feed her and cover the cage for warmth.

[manfre]

There's a queen breeder here in NC that buys hundreds of queens each year. He just lays them on the bottom board.

I don't think it makes a lot of difference where you put her, as long as the workers can feed her and cover the cage for warmth.

With that large of a scale, the loss of a few queens may be minimal compared to the labor cost of spending more time to hang the cage between the frames. I'm curious about how many (if any) of the installed queens do not survive the release.

[AllenF]

I stick mine between the frames, and if there is comb there where the bees can not get to the screen, I push the wax back to make room.  It is easy for the bees to fix comb.   They need to get to the queen to feed her.  I see a lot of attendants die in the cages.  I have only seen one queen die first. 

[fermentedhiker]

I stick mine between the frames, and if there is comb there where the bees can not get to the screen, I push the wax back to make room.  It is easy for the bees to fix comb.   They need to get to the queen to feed her.  I see a lot of attendants die in the cages.  I have only seen one queen die first. 

The attendants die because they are stung to death(usually), not because they starve.  Which is why some books recommend removing the attendants from the queen cage before introduction, claiming it improves the odds of successful intro.  In my experience(limited though it might be) it makes little to no difference.  I've hung it/left it on top/direct released and all were successful.

[manfre]

If you don't remove the workers, make sure the candy side is up. Otherwise the dead workers will fall down and could block the queen from being freed.

[Michael Bush]

I release her and remove the box... but otherwise it depends on where you have to put her and what kind of cage.  The California cages will fit between the frames.  The three hole cages won't.  The JZBZ cages will...

[wd]

with packages, this has worked for me just fine

[BeeHopper]

I prefer to lay the Queen Cage on the top of the frames and add a 2 inch shim just under the inner cover  and top, plenty of room for the girls to wrap themselves around her.  :-D

[Hemlock]

Thanks all for the responses.  Here's what I did -



And how it worked...