Queen rearing details

[rmdial]

I am trying to determine which method I want to pursue for queen rearing. Lots of info but some details are not clicking with me.

1. I am still so new that I continue to get fully suited including gloves. Handling queens would seem to be tough with gloves. I would love to get down to veil only but don't see that happening soon. So handling and marking are a problem.

2. With the Jenter system do I need a frame to hang the cups after I remove them from the case like when you graft and hang the cups? If so, is this a special frame I make, buy, or modify?

3. Can I take a cup from the Jenter system, put it into a queenless nuc with brood and honey frames covered with bees and leave it for them to take it from there?

4. What makes up a mating nuc? Is this only done after I see drones?

Thats all for now but I am sure there will be more to come. I am reading everything I can.

Thanks to everyone.

Soapy

[Velbert]

If you have excel program you can down load these

http://www.box.net/shared/pakjm8pk0c Queen cell builder


http://www.box.net/shared/pakjm8pk0c 4 frame mini nuc for getting queens mated with a small amount of bee resources


What will help you is get you a mentor to show you the ropes. and get a lot more learning lol read read read

[beedeetee]

Jenter system:

Yes, you need to cut out a piece of comb to fit the Jenter box in. Let them seal it in to the remaining comb. There are a couple of downsides to the "Jenter/Nicot" systems.

First you actually have to find the queen and put her in the Jenter box. It isn't all that hard, but for me I am doing this with my best queens (most bees) and I am usually doing this during the flow (boxes of honey above the brood nest to remove).

Then it says to leave the queen in for 12 hours. It turns out that 12 hours is about right. This is another difficulty since do I do it at 6:00am (all of the bees still home) and then 6 at night? I left her in for about 20 hours and had about 1/3 with double eggs.

I have kept bees since 1986, but I certainly learned a lot raising queens. I didn't worry about the double eggs thinking that the bees would deal with it. When I went to transfer the cups to the bars, I found double larva in 1/3 of the cups, so the bees just left the eggs. I had to look closely to avoid the double larva. I suspect that 20 hours was too long to leave the queen in the Jenter box and she started laying double eggs.

Since it is winter for most of us beekeepers and we could use some entertainment, I will post my "queen rearing lessons that the bees taught me" story in a day or so.

[wildbranch2007]

here is a link to some information from grant:

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=235150

[KQ6AR]

Hey Soapy,
For gloves try the netrile exam gloves like doctors use. I've been using them all summer, you can really feel the bees in you're fingers. The only sting I took was when I pinched a bee between my fingers.

I'm hopping this year to get the courage to take them off.

[Apple Farmer]

Soapy,
I started the year with the complete suit of armor as well. After a few visits I was down to a veil, shorts, a tee shirt and no gloves for the summer until I had a hot hive. Went back to the armor and 8 mil nitrile gloves until the brood from a new queen took over. It is much easier to handle queens bare handed and as a second choice the nitrile gloves do work.

[Michael Bush]

>1. I am still so new that I continue to get fully suited including gloves. Handling queens would seem to be tough with gloves. I would love to get down to veil only but don't see that happening soon. So handling and marking are a problem.

You can use a queen catcher and a queen marking tube and never handle them at all. But it's better to practice on drones and get good at doing it bare handed. Queens don't sting.

>2. With the Jenter system do I need a frame to hang the cups after I remove them from the case like when you graft and hang the cups? If so, is this a special frame I make, buy, or modify?

Brushy Mountain sells them.

>3. Can I take a cup from the Jenter system, put it into a queenless nuc with brood and honey frames covered with bees and leave it for them to take it from there?

It's a waste to put only one cell in each. You'll get better fed queens putting a bunch in a strong starter and then when they are two days from emerging put them in nucs.

>4. What makes up a mating nuc? Is this only done after I see drones?

You make up the mating nucs two days before the queens emerge. You start the queen cells for those only after you see drones. You have things a bit turned around.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearing.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesafewgoodqueens.htm

[Kingfisher Apiaries]

I would HIGHLY recommend Dr connors new book-Queen Rearing Essentials. It addresses every one of your questions. A VERY good read.
MIke

[Mike121]

Hi,
Well I have done my first batch of queens (18). They are all laying really well. :)

I made a spreadsheet of how to do it and attatched videos to it. (they are not my videos, but I used the methods in the videos)
The total cost to me was a grafting tool and a piece of 3/8 wood to make the cups.

No kits, no fuss, just my bees with minimum disruption.

Here is the spread sheet.

http://web.aanet.com.au/~Bees/images/Queen%20breeding.xls

http://web.aanet.com.au/~Bees/images

Hope you like it.

Any suggestion on making it better would be appreciated.

Mike

[Joel]

Velbert, I've been raising queens for years, just finished another book and I have to say your downloads here are what's been missing from my operation for years. Great stuff and thanks!

Bought the e-zqueen system last year and got the lay cage drawn out in anticipation of this spring. My 51 year old eyes are making the close up work (grafting) difficult so I need a better way (I hope it's better). Are you guys waxing the plastic cell cups before use or are they accepted well without once the egg is in.

[beedeetee]

I know that the instructions said to wax them, but I didn't and as I said above, I got too many eggs. I removed the plastic excluder to see if that made them draw the cells out any faster since this was my first year with the Jenter.

I put it in the middle of the brood nest and after a few days they were drawing and filling the cells with honey. I put the excluder back on :rolleyes: (I guess I need to write that "what I learned this summer" essay on my queen raising exploits). Just a hint....look for burr comb on the edges when you put the excluder back on. More on that later.

[Velbert]

Hi Joel

Thank you

I tryed puting a drop of wax in the inside bottom of the cup but it didn't seem to make any difference I use the nicot system have not tryed the ez system