# How soon to replace a queen after installing a package?



## whalers (Jun 4, 2011)

About 10 days ago I installed new packages of bees. All the queens are released from their cages and the hives are active as the weather has been nice. The packages were put into hives with drawn comb so things should get off to a quicker start that way. I want to replace the queens in at least a couple of the packages with Hygenic queens. So the question is how long do I wait for the hive to get established before replacing the queen? Also, if you know a proven source for good hygenic queens I would appreciate the information. Thanks!


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Requeen just before or early in your fall buildup period. Vp queens and Glenn apiaries web sites have links to producers of open mated vsh queens. order early.


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## whalers (Jun 4, 2011)

Ok, thats consistent with what I've heard before, but the question I have is this. The mites build up over the summer and so requeening in the late summer would put the new queen in right at the time the mites are approaching peak numbers. Wouldn't it make more sense to do it earlier, like in May/June, so the vsh bees have a chance to control the mites? Just wondering.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

A young newly mated queen will lay eggs at a very high rate at first, so requeening at that time helps you to go into the winter with a strong hive. There is also the theory that the bees can out breed the mites during a fast buildup - see http://www.mdasplitter.com/ for more about this. But my recommendation is mostly based on the first reason - and conventional wisdom I guess.


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