I was curious how the big boys/girls do it.
Do they have multiple mating yards or colored mating nucs, that they rotate through.
I.e. Every Friday they graft X cells for Red Yard or Red Nucs, which is moved/captures per queen rearing schedule.
Does each yard have a dedicated starter(s)/finisher(s), that are used every 21+ days?
Or do they have one constantly restocked starter(s)/finisher(s) that is used for all yards/colored nucs?
I'm trying to decide how I want to try my hand this year. I can see the perk of 20 queens a week vs 60 queens every 3 weeks. The load per week would be less, and the chance of bad weather ruining a entire batch would be minimized.
Any information would be great. I grafted/mated around 100 queens last season. I'm getting my ducks in a row to do significantly more, but I'd like to learn from professionals.
Thanks,
-Kevin
Do they have multiple mating yards or colored mating nucs, that they rotate through.
I.e. Every Friday they graft X cells for Red Yard or Red Nucs, which is moved/captures per queen rearing schedule.
Does each yard have a dedicated starter(s)/finisher(s), that are used every 21+ days?
Or do they have one constantly restocked starter(s)/finisher(s) that is used for all yards/colored nucs?
I'm trying to decide how I want to try my hand this year. I can see the perk of 20 queens a week vs 60 queens every 3 weeks. The load per week would be less, and the chance of bad weather ruining a entire batch would be minimized.
Any information would be great. I grafted/mated around 100 queens last season. I'm getting my ducks in a row to do significantly more, but I'd like to learn from professionals.
Thanks,
-Kevin