Introducing a queen is one of the operations that most often goes wrong. A colony does not accept a strange queen automatically.

What determines acceptance

• How long the colony has been queenless: A colony queenless for a few hours is most receptive; one queenless for a long time accepts less readily
• Forage conditions: Acceptance is easier during a flow
• The state of the colony: A colony with laying workers accepts with great difficulty
• Slow contact: A cage is necessary

The types of cage

• Shipping cage: For transport, with attendants and candy
• Introduction cage: The colony sees and smells her through the mesh but cannot attack her
• Cell protector: Prevents an early-emerging queen destroying the other cells
• Confinement cage: Holds the queen so she cannot lay, for a brood break

The method

• Remove the old queen first
• Hang the cage in the brood nest after a few hours
• Let the candy close the exit; the bees chew through it
• Do not open the hive for several days

Reading the behaviour on the cage

This is the most reliable indication you have:

• Calm bees feeding through the mesh → acceptance is going well
• Biting, gripping the cage aggressively → it is too early; wait longer

If the cage is opened too early, the queen is killed.

The mesh size

The openings must let workers feed her but keep the queen in. Too wide and she escapes or is stung; too narrow and she is not fed.

Hygiene

Plastic cages take up smells. Store clean, leave no detergent residue, avoid contact with chemicals — a cage that smells of something lowers acceptance.

Practical point

Always keep a few empty cages with you. A queen that must be secured during work is hard to handle without one.