RAPID QUEEN INTRODUCTION

I can’t remember exactly where I read the short article (Bee Culture or American Bee Journal) but it was about RAPID queen introduction.  The concept was simple.  Remove or kill the old queen.  Flood the hive with a scent to mast the pheromones of the new queen.  Also spray the new queen with the same scent.  Then put the queen into the hive.  The author claimed success in 9 out of 10 rapid introductions. 

This fall I had a few leftover queens that I needed to use and decided to give this time saving method a try.  In the first instance, I saved the old queen (just in case!).  With a small spray bottle, I sprayed down the receiving hive and the donating nuc with a sugar water solution containing a little lemongrass oil, Nozevit and Honey Bee Healthy.  These three additives produced a strong odor, but none are detrimental to the bees.  I can understand why the bees would be temporarily confused.  For several hours many of the hive bees decided it was nicer outside of the hive than inside.   I then picked up the new queen and put her directly into the hive.  No aggression was noted.  Several days later I verified she was alive and laying.  This first test was putting a new queen into a package queen hive which I think was of Italian origin. 

In the second test I was combining two nucs; one with an Ankle Biter queen and the other with a Russian queen.  On this second try I was a little braver and immediately dispatched the Russian queen.   After spraying down the bees in both nucs I combined the nucs.  A week later I verified the queen was present and laying.  I was a little worried the Russian bees would not be as accepting of the new queen.  But there were no problems. 

I will use this rapid introduction method next spring for introducing queens for any splits or nucs I make.  It sure beats the several days wait while the bees free a new queen from her cage. 

I was also talking with another beekeeper with more experience.  His method of rapid introduction was to coat the new queen with honey.  The effort by the nurse bees to clean her off also distributed her pheromones into the hive.  A little messy, but effective.