5/15Damage: 0 stings
I expected a call from the post office all day long and didn't get it, so I assumed the queen hadn't arrived. I got home from dinner at 7:00 and found an envelope (with a few holes punched in it) at my doorstep with a sticker, "Live Queen Bees Inside." I quickly lit the smoker and got busy. I did a bit of rearranging of the frames to make sure some really nice fresh nectar was close to the queen cage. Rearranging frames is nearly impossible by yourself! I felt like a really bad beekeeper. I crushed quite a few bees.
Next I pushed in the small cork into the queen cage and quickly stuck a marshmallow into the hole before the queen flew out (she has 4 or 5 attendants inside the cage to help take care of her and candy for food). Then I wedged the queen cage, with the marshmallow side down, in between two frames in the center. Sprinkled powdered sugar (see Mite Count post) just in time--it started to rain.
In a few days, I will check to make sure the bees have eaten through the marshmallow. The slow introduction allows the bees to get used to her in her cage, so they are more likely to accept her as their new queen. I hope she is a super egg-layer. The Italians have a lot of catching up to do!
One worker ended up in my sweatshirt. I could feel her crawling on me when I got back in the house. Amazingly, I was able to get her outside before she stung me (and died).
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