A Very Special Delivery

This past Tuesday, we received a very special package in the mail! A new mated Queen bee! She arrived by US postal service overnight delivery! Check out the packaging! Love it!

We loss the Queen in our newest hive about 3 weeks ago. It happens from time to time. Either the hive was unhappy with her and they gave her the boot. Or we may have accidentally sqooshed her during a hive inspection. Or she may have been eaten by a bird or died of natural causes.

You can order a new Queen for around $50, which includes shipping. The new Queen comes in a cage with a few attendants who look after her. The bottom of the cork has a plug made out of sugar. You place her in the hive between two frames. The other bees become attracted to her pheremone and they start to eat the sugar plug to free her. In 2-3 days, they will have eaten all the sugar and she will be able to escape her cage and enter her new hive home and start laying brood. It's important for the Queen to remain in her cage separated from the rest of the hive because this allows the hive to become acclimated to her pheromone scent. Its important to do so whenever introducing a new Queen to prevent the hive from rejecting her and ultimately killing her. We'll check on her in 3 days time to make sure she has successfully escaped her cage. Long live the new Queen!