Purchased Queen In Cage, No Candy, No Attendants

[Jen]

My friend purchased a package and a caged queen, cage being the rectangular wooden one with the screen across the top. She's a newbee. She installed the cage on Sunday, returned today to see the result. She reached in an got the cage to find the queen curled up and dead. After several questions I asked if the queen had attendant in with her? None. Then I asked did the cage have any candy in it? None. Just a queen with a cork on both ends of the cage. That's It.

Now, I'm not a queen breeder.. But I smell something fishy in Denmark here?

[yes2matt]

Sorry about it.

I had a friend who wanted bees, and I offered to sell her a nuc at the "friend rate " which was still more than the discount bees she found. A nuc from me would have been chemical-free on natural comb and just bustin' with bees, and would have yielded a crop this year. Instead, she'll get no crop and pay the price difference in chemicals.

Which is to say, maybe next time  your friend will purchased a nuc from her knowledgeable and experienced friend,  instead of trying to save a nickel.

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[Jen]

Let me clarify. My question is: shouldn't there have been attendants and candy in the queen cage with the queen?

Could the queen have starved to death?

[yes2matt]

Let me clarify. My question is: shouldn't there have been attendants and candy in the queen cage with the queen?

Could the queen have starved to death?

Sorry. Did I just bring my own junk to the party or what.  Sheesh.

I think "yes" is the answer to your question.

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[riverbee]

"My friend purchased a package and a caged queen, cage being the rectangular wooden one with the screen across the top"

this is a benton cage jen.

some queen sellers do not put attendants in, but all queen suppliers add candy to whatever cage is being used. and yes her queen starved to death. 

the queen can feed herself without attendants, with candy in the cage, with attendants, the attendants feed her and care for her.

sorry this happened

[Nugget Shooter]

I would think you correct Jen, I just picked up a queen and she had 5 or 6 attendants with her and a large candy plug as well... Beautiful Carniolan Queen.

[riverbee]

some do not put attendants in, ask!  i like to have attendants in. the reason in the past was it was thought  that attendants might get the queen killed. i have never had this happen.

jen, one more question, did your friend remove the cork? or leave it in? if she is new, she may not have realized she needed to remove the cork to reveal any queen candy if there was any.

EDIT AND ADD:
just saying cuz i can't imagine any beek not putting a little bit of candy in a queen cage, with or without attendants.

[Jen]

All the queens I've ordered came with attendants and about a teaspoon size of white hard candy.

There was no candy in hers!

I'm wondering too.. If a queen is put into a cage without attendents an candy to feed her... how long will it take for her to die or starve?

[riverbee]

again, some suppliers do not add attendants. most do. as i said ask when you order queens. all queens should be shipped with queen candy irregardless of the cage used. she can feed herself, and bees will feed her through the screen. 

did she remove the cork? if she removed the cork and saw no candy in there, the queen would walk right out. if she left the cork in, the queen would die in the cage because she can't be released by the bees with the cork in the way. she would die in the cage.

from what you said jen.........

" She reached in an got the cage to find the queen curled up and dead. After several questions I asked if the queen had attendant in with her? None. Then I asked did the cage have any candy in it? None. Just a queen with a cork on both ends of the cage. That's It."

[neillsayers]

I have heard of queens coming without candy but in those cases the cork is removed and a soft marshmallow shoved in the hole. Bees will work through the candy to release her.
Hard lesson for your friend, for sure!

[robo]

If it came in a package,  attendants and candy are not required.    I can't speak for how she did the install, but if the queen was put in the cluster of bees and died, it would suggest a mother queen was shook in the package and the caged queen was ignored.  In this case, the good news would be she still has a queen.

[Jen]

Robo, I haven't ever bought a package so I'm learning too. Interesting the her package may have had the original queen shook into it. That makes a lot of sense. However, she acquired another queen yesterday, and installed her. Dang! She could loose that queen too. I will tell her to keep a watch on that installed queen, she may already be dead... Geez queening is confusing!

Hey Robo, if the queen came in the cluster of bees, then is it necessary to install the queen in her cage for a couple of days? I mean, they already know her if she came in the cluster... right?

[robo]

I know it is not easy for a beginner, but if she could check for eggs, that will tell her for sure.