Where do I start?

[Superdog]

I was hoping some of you beeks that are full of queen raising knowledge could help me out. I would like to try my hand at raising my own queens this year for splits, but really don't know where to start. I've read a lot online, and get the just of it.... but many of the terms are beyond my understanding. It took me weeks to figure out what "banking a Queen" meant. And I'm still not completely sure how that is done.... but I do understand what it is now. I guess what I am trying to say is.... what is the best book to buy for someone who wants to raise queen just for my own use? One that takes the reader through the whole process. Too bad there isn't a "Queen Raising for Dumbies"


Thanks
Mike

[RayMarler]

I would suggest doing some more reading online. There are 5 main methods or so of raising queens and you can read about them for free here at this website:

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearingmethods.htm

These writings are by the authors of the methods themselves and make for very good reading. You'll need to pick a style that you yourself might be interested in trying after reading of the types.

Another type is the Jenter system and I've found it works quite well.
Read more about queen rearing here...

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearing.htm#methodnames

[tecumseh]

laidlaw's 'contemporary queen rearing' is pretty much the basic text for queen rearing.

[Michael Bush]

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearing.htm#queenbank

[Superdog]

Thanks Guys,

I had looked at Michael's Pages a number of times. It just seems overwhelming. However, before I got my first bees, is seem like it was almost too much to learn, and now that I have had them for a bit, it seems to come pretty easy. Hopefully queen rearing will go just as well.


Mike

[Brandy]

I would just mention another source of video's to go with your reading. Beework's in Canada has some good information as do the German video's mentioned in the Pest and Diseases. Will give you alternatives and examples of queenless and queen right cell builders.

[HVH]

I got my start with Marla Spivak's video and booklet. She demonstrates a really good method in the video and the booklet gives plans for making some of the stuff you will need. I have since done quite a lot of reading and there are so many different approaches that you will just end up having to choose something that you like. After watching the video I went out to my shop built what I needed and had really good success starting with my first try. Many people on this forum use the Chinese grafting tool and swear by it. To me the choice of a grafting tool and a good lighting source made the biggest differences. Add to that a pair of cheap 3X glasses to help me see that tiny larvae and things started working faster and better. One of the items that I purchased for instrumental insemination was an expensive fiber optics lamp with two light sources. One of the flex lamps allows me to see the larvae and the other to see inside the queen cups.
Good Luck

http://www.extension.umn.edu/honeybees/components/videos.htm