Little John, how many cells would you start per hive if you got an order for 500 queens from one customer?
500 Queens ? Well, I wouldn't accept such an order, as I really enjoy queen-rearing, and 500 would turn enjoyment into a mass-production slog ... but what if I did accept such an order ?
Yes, I'd stay with my 16 q/cells per standard hive, and produce the 500 with 2 runs, 6 or 7 days apart - so that's 32 q/cells per hive. (assuming 100% success rate ... if only
)
500 divided by 32 suggests that 16 standard single-brood production hives would be required for such an order.
Total requirements would then be:
16 x single-brood production hives
32 x 5-frame nucs
32 x 5-frame supers
16 ekes
16 Queen Excluders
16 x plastic sheets
No need for Morris Boards (which is what I currently use) or Cloake Boards (which are simpler to use than the Morris Board) - just some sheets of plastic. Read on ...
The Steve Rose system of Queen Rearing, using a queenright hive and minimal equipment.
This system consists of a normal queen-right National hive with either 2 half width brood boxes or a split brood box mounted above a queen excluder and below a super. The super - or similar - is rotated through 90 degrees, to provide a path for the bees to cross over between the 2 half boxes.
Method:
# Place a queen excluder and 2 half-width brood boxes (or a split brood box) over a standard colony at a time when the first supers would normally be fitted. Place a super at 90 degrees above the half-boxes, or provide some other means of allowing the bees to cross over, and thus migrate between the two boxes - such as a crown board fitted with beespace battens.
# Then - wait for bees to start putting nectar in the half boxes and mature drones are available.
Sequence:
# Day 1: Place one frame of open brood and one of pollen into one of the half boxes. Place a grafting frame with 18-20 queen cell cups between these frames, ensuring that there is nectar in the two remaining frames (so that the half box now holds 5 frames).
# Day 2: Insert a plastic sheet between the half box containing the brood, pollen and grafting frames, and the queen excluder underneath it.
Graft young larvae into the queen cell frame and return it between the brood and pollen, so that the cells may be started by the emergency response. Leave the other half box in position on its own (open) queen excluder and hence accessible to the bees.
# Day 3 (or 4): Remove the plastic sheet (leaving the queen excluder in place) so that the queen pheromones have normal access to the box again, so that the queen cells may be finished by the supercedure impulse.
# 10 days later transfer the drawn queen cells into mating nucs.
I've drawn a diagram to make things (perhaps ?) a little clearer. The top boxes (shown empty) are supers with empty or capped honeycomb - it really doesn't matter - they are really only there to extend the pheromone path length (shown in magenta). There is an additional eke under the roof, enabling a pathway aross the boxes.
This is perhaps the simplest method yet devised which requires nothing which cannot be already found in most apiaries. No special kit at all is required.
So - yes, I could raise 500 queen cells to fulfill an order if pressed - but I really wouldn't want to ...
LJ