Shipping Note: QUEENS ARE PRESENTLY PICKUP ONLY AT OUR LOCATION NEAR MOUNT VERNON, IA.  What to do with a purchased queen: The Queen comes in a queen cage with a candy release plug on one end. There are also several workers attending her. There will be a candy tube in the cage. When you install her, the worker bees from the hive will eat out the candy tube over a few days, slowly letting her out (if the candy has been covered with tape, be certain to remove the tape before installation in the hive). This give the hive time to get used to her queen pheromones and increases the likelihood of queen acceptance. It is important that when your queen arrives, she is never placed in direct sunlight. Install her in your hive as soon as possible. If you are requeening, you need to let your hive be queen less for at least an hour before you install a new queen. If you are able, leave the hive queen less for 24 hours. Pick two frames with a cluster of bees to wedge the cage between. These are usually brood frames if the hive has not been queen less for an extended amount of time. Wedge the cage between the frames with the candy tube facing down. Close the lid and wait two days. After waiting a few days, check and make sure that the queen was released from the cage. You can remove the cage at this time. Wait about a week to 10 days to reopen your hive. By this time, you should be able to see eggs and some larvae. You may even see capped brood by now if she got straight to work! From the time an egg is laid to when the larvae is capped, the unborn bee will be visited about 15,000 times by nurse bees to check on the brood, feed it, and eventually cap it around day 6. Keep in mind that eggs are very small, and sometimes very difficult to see, so check your hive carefully before determining that a queen was not accepted. A magnifying glass or magnifying glasses and head lamp can be useful for this task. Every queen is a little different. Some will begin laying right away, and some take a little while to get going. Once you have determined that your queen is accepted, you can sit back, enjoy your bees, and watch the honey come in! Please let us know if you have any questions! Contact Now. Thank you!