- the family must have been orphaned for at least 48 hours and no more than a week;- remove any royal cell: the presence of even one cell will not make the queen accepted;- do not insert the cage into colonies with a virgin queen; the queen in the cage will not be accepted;- families with egg-laying bees are not to be considered orphans and therefore will not accept the queen. In this case, dismember the family;- families with a female queen will not accept the Queen in a cage: in this case it will be necessary to put her down. In this case too, wait 48 hours and then insert the Queen with her cage.- the percentage of acceptance of the Queen drops in families that have been orphaned for more than a week. If there is no more capped brood, insert two combs of capped brood taken from another family, wait 24 hours and insert the cage between the two combs of capped brood;- do not insert the cage into newly formed nuclei deriving from a single colony;- do not place the cage in newly transported colonies;- if the family is particularly aggressive the acceptance percentage drops drastically. In this case remove the tab on the side of the candy and close it with adhesive paper making a small hole with a toothpick thus delaying the Queen's exit time- do not place the cage outside the brood chamber. The bees may not heat it in cold periods;- giving the family some candy or syrup increases the acceptance rate;

The use of virgin queen bees (not yet fertilized) has some interesting advantages, but also requires some care to achieve good acceptance by the colony.Benefits of using virgin queens 🐝Lower cost Virgin queens cost less than already fertilized queens because they do not require the fertilization and selection period.Easier to ship and handle They are lighter and better able to withstand the stress of shipping or handling.Local genetic adaptation The queen fertilizes herself in flight with drones present in the area, adapting her genetics to the local population.More natural introduction In some situations the colony accepts a virgin queen more easily because the fertilization process and the start of egg-laying takes place "in-house".Useful for nuclei and queen breeding They are widely used for:formation of fertilization nucleinatural replacement of the queengenetic selection programsDisadvantages to considerRisk of failed fertilization (bad weather, few drones).Longer time before laying (approximately 7–15 days).Increased risk of loss during fertilization flights.✅ In summary:Virgin queens are economical and useful especially for nuclei and breeding, but require favorable conditions for fertilization and careful management of the introduction.

It is important to observe some simple but fundamental conditions to have high acceptance rates of virgin queens.1. Really orphaned colonyThe colony must be queenless for at least 6–24 hours .Delete all real cells .2. It is better to introduce it in small nucleiAcceptance is much higher in nuclei (3–5 frames) than in strong colonies.3. Use of introduction cagePlace the queen in a cage with candy for 1–2 days.This allows the bees to get used to its pheromone.4. Presence of young broodThe presence of open brood reduces the aggression of the bees.5. Stimulating nutritionGiving light syrup (1:1) helps calm the colony and improves acceptance.6. Time of yearIntroductions work best when:there is a flow of nectarthe colony is growing .7. Evening IntroductionInsert the queen in the evening , when the bees are less aggressive.💡 Trick used by many beekeepers:Lightly spray the bees with syrup water or honey water before introducing them to even out the odors.

As already answered in the FAQ in the "Shipping" section, any shipment always travels at the customer's responsibility (see specific FAQ).For queen bees, we recommend always documenting the entire package opening with a video, including checking all the queens. This will help determine if the error was caused by the courier's transportation and request compensation by filing a complaint with the courier. Otherwise, we won't have the information to resolve the issue.