Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => REQUEENING & RAISING NEW QUEENS => Topic started by: Richard M on July 18, 2016, 07:23:36 pm

Title: When to requeen?
Post by: Richard M on July 18, 2016, 07:23:36 pm

I'm in Australia, so it's mid-winter here.

I'm very keen to prevent my hives from swarming next Spring/Summer (Oct-Dec).

I'm trying to stick to requeening every 2 years to minimise this.

Of these hives, one was a mid December 2014 cast swarm, the other was requeened in late February 2015.

They'll turn 2 in Dec 2016 and Feb 2017 respectively - when should I requeen, when they turn 2 years old (Dec 2016 and Feb 2017) or at the start of their second full summer season (ie this springtime, Oct-Dec) or in Spring 2017?

Title: Re: When to requeen?
Post by: jalentour on August 07, 2016, 11:41:48 am

Two schools of thought from my bee club:
1.  Every year in late July.
2.  When the queen's production does not meet your standards.

I do some of both.  But not for swarm control. I use space and splits for swarm control.

If you are a hobbiest, I would not requeen. Let the bees take care of it.

Title: Re: When to requeen?
Post by: rwlaw on August 14, 2016, 08:08:06 am

I would say that there's merit to the thought of keeping a fresh queen in a hive.The control bees will be less inclined to trigger a swarm if the queen is younger and vigorous. If the timing (nectar flows) is right, IMO they will cast a swarm just to reproduce and in the process get rid of the older queen.
The question is, at what point do they say it's time to get rid the old nag and get the yearling in place to start pulling the wagon and still make economic sense to the beekeeper.

Title: Re: When to requeen?
Post by: Rurification on August 14, 2016, 02:37:40 pm

And also, isn't requeening used  for varroa to interrupt the brood cycle?   That might be a good reason to requeen every year.

Title: Re: When to requeen?
Post by: Oldbeavo on September 12, 2016, 08:12:26 am

When to requeen?
Poor honey production when compared with other hives..
Poor brood pattern or not enough brood
Appearance of queen, has 6 legs, wings aren't frayed or tatty, is walking well.
If the top two points are good then I will tolerate poor appearance.
Sometimes to help prevent swarming you can remove the old queen to a nuc and let the hive form a new queen.
If the old queen is still preforming well then she will grow a new hive and probably won't swarm this spring.