Which way to release the queen?

BjornBee · March 02, 2011, 05:20:19 PM

I have never injured a queen, or lost a queen, by taking out the attendants. :-D Of course, I have never taken out the attendants before putting in a queen cage. ;)

And I never had a problem introducing queens, that would justify taking out the attendants in the first place. :roll:

rdy-b · March 02, 2011, 05:27:23 PM

the only time i would take out the atendants is if i where going
to BANK the queen- ;) RDY-B

Kathyp · March 02, 2011, 05:50:30 PM

depends on how long they have been in the package.

deknow · March 02, 2011, 06:13:50 PM

sometimes there is a queen in the cluster.
deknow

deknow · March 03, 2011, 01:01:59 AM

Quote from: Acebird on March 02, 2011, 03:07:09 PM
Quoteuse Michael Palmer's method.

Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do. :roll:

yes, you can quote me out of context in order to find something to disagree with...although i'm not sure what that accomplishes other than raising your post count.

i never told anyone to use michael palmer's method...and since i doubt you have ever picked up a queen with your bare hands, i would not recommend this for you.

what i said was that if you want to remove the attendants, use michael palmer's method. jack (brooksbeefarm) had expressed concern about losing the queen while releasing the attendants, and i posted a video of how to minimize the risk.

beekeepers do things all different ways. michael raises and introduces a lot of queens every year. whether or not you agree with his methods, they are proven sound over a long period of time...someone to pay attention to. a non-migratory commercial beekeeper who is successful by any standard.

deknow

deknow · March 03, 2011, 01:05:18 AM

Quote from: ronwhite3030 on March 02, 2011, 02:56:59 PM
I have always been told release with candy down in High climate area so that if the candy gets hot an drips it doesn't drip on the queen...

an interesting thought, but i can't imagine a scenario where freeflying bees with a sufficient cluster will allow the queen cage (or candy) to get much hotter than 95 degrees. regulating the environment in the hive is necessary to keep brood and queen from cooking, and to keep comb from melting.

deknow

Michael Bush · March 03, 2011, 01:48:26 AM

>How many $25 queens get lost between the car seats using that MP method?

Queens fly to the window, not to the seat.

>I think I'll listen to AceBird on this one.

Nov 23 2010 Acebird describes himself as "just getting started". I would describe Michael Palmer as a man who spent his life making living keeping bees. Listen to whoever you like. But you might want to think it over.

Not that I won't disagree with Palmer on this one and agree with Bjorn on this one. I don't release attendants.

deknow · March 03, 2011, 02:01:12 AM

Quote from: Michael Bush on March 03, 2011, 01:48:26 AM
Nov 23 2010 Acebird describes himself as "just getting started".

...and on march 2 (today) he stated that he has never installed a package.

deknow

Acebird · March 03, 2011, 09:32:38 AM

QuoteListen to whoever you like.

The most successful people in life listen to everybody and then choose wisely on what they say not who said it.

As the previous posts have sited I don't claim to know anything about bees, but if I needed to release the attendants (for reasons I don't know yet) I would devise an enclosed chamber to separate them from the queen instead of in the a cab of a truck.

My comment was meant to be humorous from the perspective of a newbee. I can't picture any newbee trying this. The video in itself is humorous to a newbee.

tillie · March 03, 2011, 12:53:19 PM

sometimes in a package inadvertently there is a virgin queen. The bees get used to her and the queen in the cage is not accepted.

Thus the biting.

Linda T in Atlanta

tillie · March 03, 2011, 12:56:41 PM

Oops - I posted in response to the end of page one and didn't see that there was a full page two already! :imsorry:

deknow · March 03, 2011, 01:01:34 PM

...and sometimes she is not a virgin. catching "the" queen can often lead you to miss "the other" queen(s).
deknow

VolunteerK9 · March 03, 2011, 01:10:30 PM

Wrap a rubber band around a frame and place the queen cage between the rubber band and foundation. The cage will be laying sideways (screen side out). Its quick and easy. Ive tried taping-sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt and a few other ways. Rubber bands are quick and easy.

deknow · March 03, 2011, 01:34:37 PM

...this works with foundation...but we had one friend who did this with HSC (fully drawn plastic). the screen was not accessable to the workers, and the queens died. same would likely happen with drawn comb.

regardless of how you do this, make sure the screen is accessible!

deknow