The second most common queen cage is the plastic JZ-BZ queen cage. These cages have a long tube that is filled with queen candy, and a cap for a second hole.

Now that we know what type of queen cages to expect, and you've received your queen...its time to put her in the hive.

Some beekeepers simply pinch the old queen and put the new queen in the hive right away. While this will usually work, and I often do the same, it is best to remove the old queen 24 hours before installing the new queen. This gives the bees a chance to realize that their queen is missing. However do not wait more than one day or the bees will start making queen cells.

The next step is to place to the queen in the hive. However we don't just simply pop the lid and drop her in. If you have a wooden queen cage, pop the cork out. Make sure that you pop the cork that's on the same side as the queen candy.

Now puff a little smoke in the entrance of the hive. Then take the outer cover off. Now puff a little more smoke in the inner cover hole. Now remove the inner cover and smoke the bees that are on the top bars. If you have two hive bodies on, remove the top hive body and place it to the side. If you have a plastic queen cage, use your hive tool to simply make a little more space between the two middle frames and slide the queen cage in. It should be snug enough to not allow the queen cage to fall to the bottom board.

If you have a wooden queen cage, start removing frames from the hive body. Start with the outside frame and work your way to the middle of the box. Make sure that you place each frame in a safe place. Its usually a good idea to have a frame perch, or an empty hive body to place the frames in temporarily. You only need to remove four frames.

Now pry the fifth frame away from the sixth frame to make a little space. Lower the queen cage down between the fifth and sixth frame until the queen cage is under the bottom of the top bar. Make sure that the candy side is facing down, and that the screen will not be pressed up against the comb when you push the frames back together. We need the attendant bees to be able to feed the queen until she is released.

Now that the queen cage is lowered into the hive, you will need to press the fifth and sixth frame back together. This should cause the queen cage to smash a little bit of the comb on those frames, which the bees will repair later. Now replace all of the frames that you removed.

If you removed any boxes, put the back on the hive taking care not to smash any bees. Then put the hive back together. Your done!

Now that we have the queen in the hive, leave them alone for at least ten days. The queen should be released in three or four days, and then she should be laying within another day or two. Sometimes it takes a new queen a week to start laying. If you mess with them in that time period, the bees may blame the queen and ball her. If you want to wait a full two weeks, that's fine. When you do decide to see if she was accepted, simply inspect the hive as normal. If you find eggs, she's there.

However if you find multiple eggs in the cells, or eggs on the side wall of the cells, you may have a laying worker.

Another thing to keep in mind. If you have a Russian queen, and you don't have Russian bees, you may have trouble introducing her. In this case the bees will need more time to accept her. After you place a Russian queen in the hive, the bees may decide not to accept her at all, and then start building queen cells. For this reason, its a good idea to leave the cork in the queen cage. Place the queen in the hive, then come back in three days and cut out any queen cells that have been started.

Now close up the hive. Then come back in two more days to cut out any more queen cells. Wait a total of 10 days from the day that the Russian queen was placed in the hive, then remove the cork. By cutting out the queen cells, the bees will no longer have larva of the right age to make a new queen, and they will be forced to accept the Russian queen.

Another way to keep your Russian queen, or any queen from being killed is to manually release them after acceptance. I do this anytime I am not sure about the presents of a virgin. Simply place the queen cage in the hive as you would any other (although when I do this, I simply lay the queen cage on the top bars). Then come back in four days and open up the hive. Watch to see how they are acting towards the queen. Are they trying to sting her? Are they biting the screen on the queen cage? If so you may have a virgin queen, or laying workers.

If your new queen is a a Russian, it may take up to two weeks for them to accept her. However, they will not accept a new queen if they have queen cells, a virgin queen, or laying workers.

If they are sticking their tongues into the cage and feeding her without any bees trying to bite or sting, it is time to release her. To do this pick up the cage and shake off the attendants. Then release her by prying the screen off the cage and sitting it back down on the top bars. When the queen has exited and disappears between the frames, remove the cage and close the hive.

Good luck!