Err. You didn’t say, but I hope you got a queen cage with your package? Most packages do not have a loose queen, so it should have been there somewhere… If you didn’t, you need to contact your package supplier, like yesterday…
You should have either released her on the first day, or check on day 3 and release her then. If you didn’t do either of those, your package is in urgent need of a queen.
Jstrano
20h
Yes, the queen arrived in a separate cage.
I direct released her.
I direct released the queen.
After a lengthy thread here about that last week, with the cold, etc. I rolled the dice and took your advice.
I know it’s a a gamble either way, since the time constraint for the newly arrived package coupled with the cold had no clear definitive solution.
Just looking now for advice on how to proceed since I can’t identify the queen without totally disrupting the hive by dispersing the clusters to find her.
I hate to not give this queen a chance if she’s in there, but if I don’t mind spending the money…is it chicken soup to introduce a new queen…keeping her in the cage for the candy plug interval since it’s much warmer this week?
Use a piece of newspaper between the two groups of bees. They will chew through it but by the time they get through they will be acclimated to each others scent and should accept each other. The only way this won’t work is if both sides of the newspaper has it’s own queen. So you should be certain that you do not have a queen before attempting.
Oooh, thanks for reminding me that I ought to be tracking stuff! I did my very first install on Sunday and had the misfortune not to have anything to plug the queen cage and ended up using an organic fruit snack. Went in 2 days later to replace with marshmallow, but they’d already released the queen and started pulling comb. So exciting!
This is why I ultimately decided to set up two hives this year as a first-time beekeeper. It was a crazy spring - installation of packages the day before three days of nasty, snowy, windy cold weather, with a direct release of the queen on installation day. I had time for only one inspection a week later before leaving on a 10 day vacation. During that inspection I did see the queen in one hive, but not the other. I’d like to believe I didn’t see her because I’m just not that good at spotting yet…
I returned from vacation on Monday this week, and today is the first day I will feel comfortable with the weather (or had space in my work schedule) to do another inspection. I am fearful that I will find no queen or brood in the second hive (based on nothing more than nervous nelly-ness), but assuming that the first hive/queen is still thriving, I have some peace of mind that if I need to I’ll be able to rob a frame of brood and workers from the first hive.
Michael, your website is invaluable, and has earned a coveted spot on my browser’s Bookmarks Bar! Thanks!
He answered that question 2 hours after I asked it. You must have a time warp in your neck of the woods… 