kc 2 raising your own queens
TRANSCRIPT
6 Methods1. The Doolittle Method2. The Procrastinator’s Method3. The “I Just” Method4. The “I’ll Let” Method5. The NICOT Queen Rearing Kit6. The Five-Minute Queen Method
Why?AvailabilityQualityCostIntroduction issues of caged, mated queens*
Successful IntroductionsBetter a nuc than full hiveQueenless for at least 24 hoursRemove all attendants from cageLeave corks in, cover candyInstall queen in cage for 4 daysOn day five, manually release
Why?AvailabilityQualityCostIntroduction issues of caged, mated queens*
Lesser criteriaLocally adapted, survivorsSelect for mite resistanceAvoids banking stressAvoids shipping stressYou don’t receive dead queens, file insurance, etc.
Why not?Takes dedicated hives, nucsDoesn’t take a lot of time
but timing is critical, demanding
schedule is unforgivingNo room for
procrastinationlong spells of rainy weather
Biggest HurdlesNot all grafts get cappedNot all capped cells hatchNot all virgins return from their mating flights
My wife wanted to take in a Cardinals baseball game.
It rains the next four days.
Timeline for queens3-1/2 days egg5-1/2 days larva7 dayspupaDay 16 queen hatches5-7 days harden, mate3-5 days mature, lay eggs
24 – 28 days to production
Best Time To Raise QueensSwarm seasonGenerous nectar flowAbundant pollen
Strong colony (cell builder) of healthy nurse bees
1. The Doolittle MethodGraft (remove) day-old larvae (day 4) to a cell cup
Place cell cups (grafts) in a queenless cell starter for 48 hours
Move cell cups to a queen-right cell finisher for 4 to 9 days
Place capped cells in mating nucs (Day 10 - 15)
AdvantagesCan be started anytimeCuts 4 days off the process
Large quantities of queens can be raised
DisadvantagesCan you identify day-old larvae?
Can you graft without damaging the larvae?
Need --good eye sight--a steady hand--excellent lighting
2. Procrastinator’s MethodIgnore colonies and trigger the impulse to swarm (but when?)
Hope to catch swarm as it leaves (when cells are capped)
Hope queen cells are evenly distributed among the frames.
Divide frames with swarm cells into nucs.
3. The “I just” method“I just” pulled two frames of brood and put them in a nuc.
But we expect a weak, under-resourced nuc make fantastic queen cells.
Not completely impossible to get a good queen.
4. “I’ll let” method“I’ll let my bees decide when they need a new queen.”
Run down colonies burdened with low morale hope to make a queen.
Lost production waiting
5. NICOT queen rearing kitKit costs around $80Cell grid – where the queen is confined to lay eggs
Cell cups – where eggs laidCell cup holders, cell cup fixtures – fasten cell cups to top bars
NICOT ProcessPlace the empty cell grid (no queen) between two brood frames to “warm up.”
Leave in for 24 to 48 hours.
NICOT ProcessPut the front on the cell gridFind the queen, and place her in the cell grid
Wait 4 days to see if you see eggs.
Queen may not lay on the first day.
NICOT ProcessMove (“graft”) cell cups with larvae to a frame (cell cup holders/fixtures)
Install frame into cell starter and builder
NICOT ChallengesCell grid with cell cups needs 48 hours to “warm up.” (B4 queen)
Queen may not lay eggs right away
Timing the transfer of day-old larvae not certain, keep checking
May require multiple trips to bee yard to graft cell cups
May require multiple cell starters
NICOT BenefitsGraft cell cups w/o touching larvae
Very easy to detect day-old larvae
NICOT DisadvantagesTakes longer2 days to warm up2 days for fickle queen
Four cell starters per batch, all one day behind the other
Restraining queen
NICOT Disadvantages110 cells cups, and queen won’t lay in all of them
Must graft larvae, not eggs60-70 larvae hatch40-50 queen cells capped30-40 queens mated
6. Five-Minute MethodBuild up a colony to a minimum of 8 frames of brood
Expand brood nest to prevent swarming
Make a “reverse split” (nuc) with the queen, two frames of brood and bees
What just happened?A fully-resourced, queenless colony begins to make queen cells from age-appropriate larvae.
Do you trust the bees to choose the larvae?
Return 7 days laterExpect to find capped queen cells…now what?
Option 1Squish all but two queen cells and super for honey production
Return 7 days laterOption 2Divide the frames with queen cells between nuc boxes, allocating frames with cells between them.
Squish all but two cells per nuc
Return 21 days laterConfirm queen mated by observing pearly white brood
How’s this work?Bees do all the heavy liftingRequires a minimal amount of time from the beekeeper
Allows for weather disruptions
Limit to 4 to 5 nucs per existing hive.
Five-Minute MethodRemove queen, reverse splitReturn 7 days later, squish all but two cells
Return 21 days later to confirm mated, laying queen
Virtually goof-proof
More Information?www.mdasplitter.comMel Disselkoen
www.cowetabeekeepers.orgFacebook:
Coweta Sustainable Beekeeping
https://www.createspace.com/6663403
