when to release queen

[foxman]

just asking in advance,
when should i release the queen from her cage if the bees dont?

[Hethen57]

It kind of depends how long they have already been in the shipping cage together.  Mine came up from California, so they were probably together for 3 days + and I direct released both of my queens.  Somewhere between 3 to 5 days is what is recommended.  It is probably not an exact science on number of days, you can probably tell more by the way the bees are behaving around the cage, ie. if they are clustering around the cage and feeding her, they are likely willing to accept her.  You will read of a number of unsuccessful queen introductions on here, so nothing is guaranteed.

[sc-bee]

Some queens are harder to introduce than others. Russians sometimes take longer and most breeders say leave the Russians at least five days before pulling the cork in the candy. But as said above note the behavior and see if the bees are biting at the cage rather than feeding and licking with their tongues sticking out.

Most say release if she is not out in a week. You can free release to comb and watch behavior, see how bees react to her. But beware cup hand over top or use muff etc. She will take to the air if not careful. I had this happen on my first free release :shock:!

If she takes to the air remain still and in place. Let her orient on you and she will usually return.