Queen caging
Queen caging is used to ensure an artificial brood interruption, during summer and/or winter (when necessary).
Numerous queen caging devices are available on the market. The can differ in size, materials used and relative cost. All such devices are equipped with a queen excluder that prevents the queen from passing through, but ensures that the worker bees can take care of her.
On average, caging the queen takes longer than treating her with acaricides alone. There are cages made of different materials (e.g. bamboo or plastic) and with different space within the grid.
The two basic types of caging:
- Caging that does not allow oviposition
- Caging on a frame allowing oviposition
The duration of caging can be variable. The treatments (e.g. oxalic acid treatments) are carried out when all brood has either been removed and there is no receptive brood (in case of using cages that prevent the queen from oviposition) or all brood is removed but there is still receptive brood (in the case of using cages that allow the queen to lay eggs) that needs to be removed before the treatment.
The position of the cage on the frame should be different in summer and winter. One strategy for caging the queen during winter is to place the cage above the frames so that the bees can take care of the queen and keep her at a suitable temperature more easily (the heat developed by the hive is streaming upwards). Conversely, in case of summer caging, the cage containing the queen should be placed on the lower part of the frame, preferably near the hive entrance to ensure optimal ventilation.
The queen can also be confined for a shorter period of time, restarting the egg-laying activity a few days earlier, allowing a faster recovery for the colony and less stress for the queen. The Varroa mite, in fact, enters the brood cells just before their closing, i.e. on day 9 after oviposition. Therefore, it is possible to release the queen 7 days earlier than the theoretical 24 days, i.e. on day 17. In fact, even assuming that as soon as the queen is released, it begins to lay eggs, the larvae will only be receptive for Varroa mite infestation after 8-9 days, however, in the meantime all the operculated cells present will be hatched. In this way, we can shorten the queen caging period by a week, allowing oviposition to resume earlier, resulting in a faster recovery of the hive. Even if the queen is freed on day 17, anti-varroa treatment must be carried out on day 21 or (in case drone brood is present) on day 24 from the onset of queen caging.
In case of winter caging, the cage containing the queen should remain inside the cluster at all times. During winter, the caging period can be even longer than 24 days and the queen can be released when environmental conditions are favourable for the development of the colony.
Based on field experience, queens that die inside the cages are assumed to have a priori problems (e.g. low fertility, low pheromone production).
A new alternative to have a brood stop is the queen ringing. This technique involves the use of plastic or silicone rings that are placed around the queen's abdomen. These rings prevent the queen from oviposition.
Warnings: May depend on the regulations in force in the given country.
Please check out the B-THENET Platform for the Best Beekeeping Practices tailored to each country in the national language, co-developed with practicing beekeepers in the National B-THENET Centres of those countries (Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden).
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