BOOKS AND TOOLS

[super bee]

COULD SOMEONE RECCOMMEND A GOOD QUEEN REARING BOOK,ALSO I'M LOOKING INTO BUYING A GRAFTING TOOL,IF I'M GOING TO BUY ONE I WOULD LIKE TO BUY A GOOD ONE,ANY SUGGESTIONS ON THOSE.THANKS,JIM TENNANT

[Pollinator]

I use Rearing Queen Honey Bees
by Roger A. Morse. It's out of print now, but there are copies still around, and may bee used ones if you check out the used booksellers on the Internet.

Dadant's stainless steel grafting tool is very good. There are fancier ones, but I don't think they really make it easier. A very large magnifying glass would help these old eyes a lot more than a grafting tool with bells and whistles. I guess it's time to order one, eh?

[Clayton]

Hi,

Get contemprary queenrearing by Laidlaw. It goes through many methods of queen rearing. I like the chinese grafting tool it has one plus. Its cheap and works well!

Clay

[James Burke]

I started with Laidlaw's "Contemporary Queen Rearing" book. He offered many variations on queen rearing and I figured I couldn't go wrong.
As I began to get better at grafting (the method I chose) I began to look for other books to help me refine the whole rearing process. Steve Taber's book "Breeding Superbees" is quite technical at times, but I think the thing I learned most was how important nutrition is. In other words, make sure your YOUNG worker bee rearing colony have PLENTY of POLLEN and honey as this is VERY critical to a new queen's development.
This year, I am going to go a step further and develop drone colonies to "saturate" my rearing yard with drones from select queens. To be perfectly honest, for the last two years, I let this step get by without any thought, but it also is critical for a well mated queen.
My advice...start simple and take it one step at a time and don't be afraid to keep trying. It took me about two seasons before I could actually get predictable results. Also, keep good notes or (mental notes) as to what you see happening in your colonies. My bees have taught me things I've yet to read in a book.

Regards,
Jim

[Dee A. Lusby]

I heartily agree that Harry Laidlaw's "Contemporary Queen Rearing" is a good book to have here.

Also see if you can find a copy of Friedrich Ruttner's " Breeding Techniques and Selection for Breeding of the Honeybee" or "Queen Rearing Simplified" by Jay Smith (published by Root's)

For grafting I like the "old style" german grafting needle with grafting needle on one end and jelly spoon of the other.

REgards,

Dee