[JWPalmer]

This is well worth a read.

Diet quantity influences caste determination in honeybees (Apis mellifera)
Garett P. Slater, George D. Yocum and Julia H. Bowsher
Published: 27 May 2020https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.0614

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rspb.2020.0614

Many thanks to Bill Hesbach at Bee-L for posting the link to this research article.

 

[JTGaraas]

Thanks for the link. I was especially pleased when I read the source of bees came from nine (9) hives near Fargo, North Dakota. So far as I know, no publicity about this study was generated in our area - sorta sad.

 

[Oldtimer]

Always learning something new. Thanks for the link JWPalmer .

 

[JConnolly]

That was interesting. Scarcity has always been a driver in evolution and I think the honeybee caste system is a prime example of that.

 

[kilocharlie]

Thank you for posting the link, JW. That is a top-notch piece of work and they are to be commended. That study really confirms and underscores what practices have been succeeding for me.

30,000 extra five- to ten-day-old nurse bees (imported via 10 frames of emerging brood 10 days before grafting) in a huge, booming cell builder colony made during the peak of the main Springtime nectar / pollen flow and fed patties and syrup make for the best queens.

1600+ feedings per day is not accomplished in weak colonies unless a very low number of queen cells are being raised. This is risking an inferior queen.

A 6-frame nucleus box is better than a 5-framer for queen rearing on a small scale by virtue that it has enough bees to raise up to about 20 GOOD queens. If a queen breeder raises only 15 cells in such a setup, they most often come out quite healthy and vigorous. I'm pretty sure that 16,000 to 17,000 nurse bees in a 6-framer is able to handle the feeding.

A full-sized 2 brood box colony with 10 imported frames of emerging brood can raise as many as 60 queen cells (perhaps more), and many attempting the feat notice that 50 cells often renders a higher end result of accepted queens - most assuredly due to the fact that the queen cells are getting an uninterrupted, plentiful flow of food from the 5- to 10-day-old nurse bees.