Propolis on queen cage

[jalentour]

I realized when I placed my queen cage with the fondant side down two days ago. I realized my error and went to the hive to flip the cage into the correct position. The bees had cleared a lot of the fondant but then had covered the opening with propolus. I cut it off and put the cafe in the correct position. Is there something I should be concerned about?  Perhaps a queen already in the package?

[rwlaw]

Kinda weird, how were the bees acting towards the queen? Biting the screen, acting aggressively are signs that you already have a queen in the hive.

[BeeMaster2]

I have not heard that one before but as long as you removed it and put the fondant up it should be OK. If the bees were not attacking the cage, I would go back into it and open it and release her on the frames. Be careful, you do not want her airborne, she has not oriented to your hive. If you only have one hive in the area she will probably find it. Don't be afraid of being stung by your queen. I have never been stung by a queen. When I find one, i pick them up and hold them in my closed hand until I can find a queen marking cage. I handled about 10 new queens last week. Not one sting.
Jim

[jalentour]

The package was passive. It seemed like they had accepted the queen. They were bunching around the cage and were easily wiped off for inspection  the queen is small and will be hard to find if she is accepted. Will find out for sure when it warms up. I haven't practiced picking up enough drones to try it on my queen. Will mark her after practice.