Recent content by pargyle

One of the joys of this forum is the way innocuous threads often turn into a discussion that is tangential to the original post. There is so much information available (and occasionally conflicting) that no one person can read all the studies and no single beekeeper has all the answers. The...

It's not about whether a larvae or an egg is fed ... as I read it - it's about selection by the bees - look at the percentages of the queen cells that are knocked down by the bees - the queen cells that are most likely to be matured into queens are those built on 3 day old eggs. The bees...

I think you are missing the point .. the various studies do not say that it is not impossible for the bees to raise queens from day 1 eggs to day 3 (or even later) larvae .. but the study shows that on average, the queens raised from 3 day old eggs may be superior to those raised from eggs or...

There's a very interesting paragraph in the Jamie Ellis study: "The brood food fed to developing queens is called royal jelly. Royal jelly contains mostly the white component (mandibular gland secretion) the first three days of the larva’s development and then equal parts white and clear...

Best not go there - it's too close to homeopathy ... you'll start another war on here !

Not according to the studies apparently ... but I'm sure your beekeeping knowledge trumps any academic study. I too found it surprising but ... that's what it says.

It's not what I said ... the studies that are quoted found that three day old eggs had more chance of becoming bigger queens and that the percentages of queen cells that were taken down by the bees were less when they were built on three day old eggs than when they were built on younger eggs or...

Why would you tolerate this ? I'm not gloveless but I rub a few drops of Olbas Oil on my nitrile disposable gloves and this discourages the bees from landing on or stinging my hands ...

I rather think this is a no-win situation. Going legal will, probably just antagonise the person keeping the bees, involving the council and even inviting the local association to become involved is likely to have similar consequences. The difficulty the OP faces is that any 'official' action...

Yes ... so the bees are attempting to select the best candidates in selecting three day old eggs - which, as has been pointed out, within a few hours are going to be larvae and fed on Royal Jelly. What does not make sense is why the bees prefer to select eggs for queen production if it makes...

Perhaps so ... according to the studies ... on average, the bees consider anything other than 3 day old eggs as sub-optimal. Who are we to argue with the bees ? It's fascinating ...

From what I've read the 'optimal' subject for grafting is a day old larvae ...so it's a matter of hours that you have to find the ideal candidate ... presumably, those who graft from older larvae may not be getting ideal queens for open mating ? I would not suggest that reputable breeders are...

So ... according to the studies and if they are valid ... the bees prefer their queens to be raised from eggs that are three days old - so anything before that or after that may well be considered (by the bees) as sub-optimal ? What you call these queens is irrelevant ... It is of course...

I don't know .. I don't know enough about how queens are produced by commercial queen producers ... but the studies are clear about what the bees prefer - presumably if they are are artificially inseminated then it negates the bees desire to see bigger queens that are able to mate with better...

I tend to keep a pack of antihistamines and a tube of Anthisan in my bee kit .. hand stings don't bother me too much but if I get a sting to my neck or face I tend to take a minute or two out to take the AH and apply the Anthisan - I find that quick treatment does reduce the amount and duration...