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Author Topic: Rearing Queen bees  (Read 3550 times)

Offline RobboWA

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Rearing Queen bees
« on: December 02, 2017, 12:24:50 am »
Hi Team,

Just wondering if anyone is rearing Queen bees and how you go about it? In the future I?m keen to build up my hives.

Cheers,
Clint

Offline iddee

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #1 on: December 02, 2017, 06:04:47 am »
Here's one of the simpler ways for a small scale keep.

http://doorgarden.com/2011/11/07/simple-honey-bee-queen-rearing-for-beginners/
"Listen to the mustn'ts, child. Listen to the don'ts. Listen to the shouldn'ts, the impossibles, the won'ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me . . . Anything can happen, child. Anything can be"

*Shel Silverstein*

Offline eltalia

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #2 on: December 02, 2017, 10:04:31 am »
Hi Team,

Just wondering if anyone is rearing Queen bees and how you go about it? In the future I?m
 keen to build up my hives.

Cheers,
Clint
[#msg445866 date=1512006567]
"I?m only a hobby beekeeper with two hives I?ve had for about 3 years."
.
Going by the extract above it may help others to better answer your
question when your goal is clear, Clint.
So I ask, are you looking at requeening the existing colonies or
something else? Depending on the location in Sandgroper country it
may happen requeening either or both those colonies may happen automagically
before April 2018. Close observation may well see an opportunity to
intervene in that effort by the bees in doing what many a backyard 'Keep
does successfuly as "queen rearing".

Bill

Offline RobboWA

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #3 on: December 03, 2017, 12:37:50 am »
Cheers Iddee :)

Hi Bill,

I apologise for my vagueness. I live on 85 acres in the Southern forests of WA with plenty of Marri, Karri, Jarrah and various Tea trees. There is a young avocado orchard on my place and another 3 within close proximity. I have dabbled in building nuc's by adding a purchased queen to honey and brood frames (currently 2 nuc's on the go). I tried this last season and seemed to have success until the neighbours horse decided it would give them a touch up. My plan is to rear them myself and build up my hives as I help out my neighbours with their bees and also sell honey. I have had 4 hives at one stage but lost 2 to wax moth over the seasons.

Clint


Offline BeeMaster2

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #5 on: December 04, 2017, 07:48:49 am »
" I have had 4 hives at one stage but lost 2 to wax moth over the seasons.

Clint"

Clint,
Now a days that is like saying that the deer on the side of the road was killed by the vultures. Wax moths are the cleanup crew. They only take over when the hive is crashing.
Jim
Democracy is 2 wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well armed lamb contesting the vote.
Ben Franklin

Offline chorrylan

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #6 on: December 04, 2017, 09:20:56 am »
I live on 85 acres in the Southern forests of WA with plenty of Marri, Karri, Jarrah and various Tea trees.

I'd recommend having a practice run on the Marri flow (which I'm guessing from distant childhood memories should be coming up in February/March?).
Marri is really good quality pollen and your bees should build strongly on it giving you good prospects for queen production.
There are lots of good resources on youtube (eg I like the Larry Connor ones).

If you're in Karri country I presume that means long, wet winters but not cold enough for the bees to go dormant so if you're going for late summer queens and overwintering nucs watch out that have good stocks of food.

Online Michael Bush

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #7 on: December 04, 2017, 03:11:00 pm »
I raise a lot of queen bees when I can.  This year there were a lot.

http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearing.htm
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesafewgoodqueens.htm

Some free queen rearing books you can read:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesoldbooks.htm
My website:  bushfarms.com/bees.htm en espanol: bushfarms.com/es_bees.htm  auf deutsche: bushfarms.com/de_bees.htm  em portugues:  bushfarms.com/pt_bees.htm
My book:  ThePracticalBeekeeper.com
-------------------
"Everything works if you let it."--James "Big Boy" Medlin

Offline eltalia

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #8 on: December 04, 2017, 05:52:15 pm »

@RobboWA
"I apologise for my vagueness".....
A reflective understanding as that is Clint my question does not really warrant
 any apology. But no matter, now -  as you see - the possibilities gel into options.

"I have dabbled in building nuc's by adding a purchased queen to honey and
brood frames (currently 2 nuc's on the go)."

In a past life running pollination colonies I exclusively used imported queens in
requeening colonies, now running a kind of "bee rescue" operation that policy has
changed to now reflect something similar
to your plan. So I'll go with what I do do now in offering my two bobs
worth, leaving the many options to your own research.

Setting one colony aside as a resource build that queen is an import
of a known excellent line - an Italian variant known colloquially as "Red Kelpies".
The brood box has three optional entrances set for partioning
within the brood box. When used those partitions deny pheromone
leakage between the chambers set. The entrances can be set in different configs
one of which is as a queen excluder.
I have now raised several queens from that colony in manouvering
the config without any erosion of the colony's critical mass - ergo,
no expansion of the woodwork required.
(pix attached - hopefully)
The same colony is also used to raise nucleus in pairs, build and queen
if required. I use 3frame Lang (deep) polyurathane boxes mounted into
a bespoke partition as a second teir to the brood box.
Little John kinda lays out something similar in;
https://beemaster.com/forum/index.php?topic=50795.msg445954#msg445954

" The 5-frame Nucleus Boxes are Half-Width, as in 'B', with two fitting exactly
over a standard Brood Box. "

Just one note with nucleus builds?
The queens I add to a nucleus are always mated away from the parent
colony. I have access to an area I know drones are of fine genetics so
I use that to know I am handing out colonies with the best chance of
success from my end of the deal.

I trust all of that gives some food for thought, and spreads the work
across the Nullabor seeing as how we cannot swap bees ;-)


Bill



Offline kanga

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #9 on: December 05, 2017, 06:45:18 pm »

Offline RobboWA

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #10 on: December 07, 2017, 09:17:58 pm »
Cheers guys,

Appreciate all the advice!

Offline eltalia

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Re: Rearing Queen bees
« Reply #11 on: December 08, 2017, 05:45:23 am »
No wukkin furries Clint, for mine I look forward to hearing (?) the outcomes this time
next year :-)

Bill

 

anything