Will be gearing up to raise batches of queens very soon. I have two questions. One related to the title of the thread and another wrt the Nicot system I will be experimenting with this season.
In one of my yards there is a good mix of distinct queen types, colours. The queens and the bees vary from jet black, to grey stripped, to tiger striped, to standard orange, to near yellow. I have past years observation cards for the main target donor/mother queens selecting for this year. The others that have performed mediocre will be eliminated. I am thinking about making a simple summary info sheet/poster for folks interested in the queens I will be raising.
Q 1) Is there a quick reference link to on the web somewhere that has clear high resolution pictures of the different strains? A very clear quality picture of the queen and same of her workers in the same shot is ideal. I can find pictures, just that they are spread across the web. Yes, I am being lazy. Wrt traits of each strain; I fully understand that any colony really is a mixed bag of mongrels and that selecting behaviour and health dictates over appearance. However, I would like to compare the dominant traits I recorded on the hive cards to the said pictures and hold those up to the traits seen in some reference tables. "The Hive and the Honey Bee" mentions honeybee types and origins but does not give pictures of each. Same for alot of the sites I have visited thus far.
Q 2) Related but not. With respect to mounting the nicot laying box in the frame. Simple enough, yet wondering if there is an best method bragged over. I use standard Langstroth deep equipment. A link would suffice.
Thanks!