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first attempt at queenrearing

157K views 111 replies 24 participants last post by  DocBB 
#1 ·
i have an idea i would like to get some feedback on about queenrearing.

i have access to a yard about four miles away that i wanted to set up as a nuc yard.

i was thinking about using the five frame nuc boxes that i alreay have, and splitting each one down the middle with a divider board, thus creating (2) two frame mating nucs in each one.

i like the idea of incubating the capped queen cells, allowing the virgins to hatch in my garage, and placing them in the mating nucs.

i figure if one side doesn't get mated, or if i use or sell the queen frome one side, i can use a couple of 3/8" holes in the divider board to do a newspaper(less) combine, and end up with a five frame nuc to use or sell.

i envision using a yard feeder for these, and robbing drawn comb and brood for my production yards.

i also envision some of the local beeks bringing me 4 frames in their five frame nucs to put virgins into.

do you think this will work?
 
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#96 ·
very cool daniel. i really like the idea of using queen castles for mating nucs. i want to get a few of those for next year.

any ideas about why 7/8 of your queens were missing? i think returning from mating flights is going to be the hard part here too.
 
#98 ·
I can't really say where those queens went. I do know I did not like the look of the quality of them. The only queen that did look good is still there. My gut tells me the bees where not impressed with these queens and did them in as soon a they had mated and laid the first eggs there is some very spotty open larva in these nucs. That is just purely what my gut tells me. I think if I can get at least one quality queen produced in each nuc they will be off and running.

In all the vanishing act of queens in my apiary this year has me concerned. It has been happening since April.
 
#99 ·
interesting daniel. i sometimes have hives that fail to requeen themselves and i'm not sure why. i suspect that there are predatory birds around that make a meal on them from time to time.

i just got in from checking my mating nucs, and the queens emerged from their cell in all six of them.

now we'll have to see how the mating goes.

that leaves me with five virgins in the garage that i am offering free of charge to any of our local club members that want to try them.
 
#102 ·
'I'm not sure where the myth about newly emerging virgin queens not being able to fly, originated.'

The other morning I walked by my incubator in the kitchen to get my coffee and something big flew right by my face. I got my coffee and sat down to take out the cells that had hatched over night and mark the virgins. As I was preparing to do that, I big fat virgin landed right next to me on the counter! What the...??? Yup, she hatched that night, pushed her way past the JZBZ cup that was sitting on top the roller cage, got out of the incubator through the fan grid and was flying around the kitchen! I guess she oriented to the incubator. I was still a little blurry eyed and really couldn't believe what had happened. When I looked sure enough, there was a roller cage and hatched JZBZ cell with no queen in it.
So yeah, they can fly all right.
And ready to make their break whenever possible.

The newly hatched virgins are usually a little confused, blurry eyed like I was, and slower moving. Give them a few hours and they are runny and stronger. A virgin that has just hatched, direct released on a frame will be submissive to the bees that come to investigate her. Sometimes She'll curl up or lay on her side a bit like she is frightened.

A 12+ hour old virgin will strut right out like she owns the frame.

As always, This has just been my experience...
 
#105 ·
update:

four out of six cells place in mating nucs are now big fat queens laying perfect patterns, with the other two most likely victims of predatory birds and/or dragonflies.

no word on the five virgins that i gave away to club members to try.
 
#106 ·
three out of those four are now heading the strongest and heaviest hives in my production yard.

the fourth one swarmed out of a five frame nuc this summer and her replacement didn't make it.

still no word on the virgins that i gave away.
 
#108 ·
A new emerged queen is a bee. So, yes, when dried she can fly as good, if she needs to, as any bee. A friend picked out one out of the incubator and marked her..Suddenly the queen took of..and my friends German schepard catched it..Note: Dont have dogs in the incubator room...
 
#111 ·
There are a lot of ways to prep receiving nucs others can suggest.
But after while you get a feel for the bees, then can push the boundaries with your methods.

I try to set cells as much as possible, but I still do a lot of direct release, it's more effective for me than using JZBZ release with virgins.

Kind of like riding a young horse. Before you climb on ask yourself,

"is he WITH me or AGAINST me?

His Body language will tell you if you learn to read it. It's the same with the bees.

I even am usually successful direct releasing a virgin queen in to a laying worker colony, when I come across them on occasion. Pretty funny, those drones.

"How YOU doin???":D

Heres the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGGX0Wu-B9E

Bee Honeycomb Beehive Honeybee Insect


This nuc was in pretty sad shape, but they'll fix those drone cells once she is mated and clean those frames up pretty well.

I usually place a capped cell in this situation, but if I have extra virgins and they'll accept her, why not? It's interesting to see what you can get away with.
 
#110 ·
I usually mix her in a shook in a new mating nuc. Well fed, only strip starters. Keeping the mating nuc confined in dark, cool place for three days. As long as they have started to build comb in earenst, they "never" abscond.. But, i have thrown in newly emerged ( they hatched in the transport box) in queen right hives. Since she is not smelling ( and some aditional smoke and of course the slight comotion removing the supers) the result is 50-80% supersedure ( like puttibg in a cell). Only seen balling once and that was a marked virgin from a nearby mating yard. Her last mistake...
 
#112 ·
Re: first attempt at queenrearing (whisky introduction)

A method or remediating to "laying workers" colonies with alcohol.

Method for remediating to "laying workers" colonies
by Jean-Marie Van Dyck
Namur, Belgium
Laying workers are really a jinx in an apiary. They are even more annoying if you breed queens. When you destroy a "laying workers" colony in your apiary, don't think that the bees in it will perish. Apart from a few young bees that are still unable to fly, all bees, more or less individually, will look for a new habitat. And most will be accepted by the guardians of the neighbouring hives with a particular attitude.

Laying workers are also quite capable of flying, but few of them make it past the guard of established hives. However, they can enter a hive (mini-plus, apidea or other types), less well protected... and they kill the very young queens of these nuclei. The few pheromones emitted by these young queens, especially inseminates, do not yet protect them effectively enough.

Removal of a colony of laying workers
It is obvious that a colony with only a few bees is not worth preserving. So shake them away from your farm, with an apiary at the established colonies. But it may be interesting to keep powerful colonies that have become orphaned and then buzzed.

For the past twenty years or so, I have been using a method, always with success. Only once was the introduced queen killed, but another queen was present, mea culpa! All my emulators, including Swedes, are unanimous: it works!

I found this method by experimenting with the procedure described by Dr. Wallon, and since then advocated by his disciples. Mr. Hector Wallon, a beekeeper and doctor, had developed and described a theory to explain the action of hypothetical substances he called sexoclasins. On buzzing colonies, he used the alcoholic extract of poppy eggs to promote the remeasurement of buzzing colonies (see La Belgique Apicole 25(3) 1961 pp.51-56).

The process I am proposing to you today, based on his experiences, is extremely simple. It requires no complicated equipment, no handling of frames or bees. What I am about to describe could be modified somewhat. One could probably be less strict about the queen's condition, or even use a virgin queen or royal cells. But it would be with less guarantee of satisfaction: executed as I describe it to you, the result is 100% guaranteed.

The necessary equipment
1)A colony without a queen with laying workers.
2)A laying queen, whatever her qualities, that is removed from her colony just before this treatment. It is not advisable to use a queen who has been travelling or stuck in a cage for a day or two. No importance on the qualities of this queen, but it is really preferable not to use a queen too young, whose egg laying is not well established (at least 2 months of egg-laying). Personally, I usually use some queens of one year or more that I keep for this purpose (queens giving bees to create nuclei). Unless she is a queen beating the longevity record, the oldest queen in the apiary is fine.
3)A queen's cage with a little candy.
4)A plastic bag of the suitable size to place point 5 into.
5)Two cartons, beer coasters, or equivalent absorbent paper that will be impregnated with the 6 below.
6)Alcohol from 20 to 40%, concentration does not seem to matter much, it works with simple alcohol, but also with Juniper, Gin, Schnaps, Whisky and other Bourbon or Cognac. You can also save a few drops for the operator, but this is not really essential to success.
That's all, and therefore within everyone's reach.

The method to follow: this is exactly what I do...
Work generally at the end of the day (I try, as much as possible, to handle bees at the end of the day).

Make sure that the colony IS QUEENLESS: if not, no problem, it will be the failure and loss of the introduced queen.
Insert the laying queen (open cage opening flap) with a plug of about 10 to 15 mm of candy. The queen can be alone or accompanied by 4 or 5 young workers from her colony. This cage is kept warm (in my shirt pocket).
Place two thick cardboards (such as beer cardboard or absorbent paper) in the small plastic bag. Pour 20 to 30 ml of the chosen alcohol into the plastic bag and allow the cardboard to soak well. (Don't drink the rest now, it's not over yet!)
Open the laying workers colony, smoke gently, please (never smoke too much, by the way!).
Place the well-soaked cardboards on top of the frames near the brood nest.
A little smoke
Pin the cage between two brood frames and between the cardboards.
Close the hive. It's over now.
It is possible to see the queen on her frame the next day, but I prefer to look just two days later. After a normal week of laying, you can do anything with this colony. But do not forget that there are very few young female workers left in this hive. The introduction of an emerging brood frame makes it possible to compensate for this.

So that's the process: very simple and guaranteed flawless if it is done correctly. Try it at the next opportunity and feel free to talk about it around you.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator
 
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