Search results

I was selling it at that wholesale 15 years ago!

Exactly, we're in complete agreement. I wasn't disagreeing with anything. Except, perhaps, that the size of the population from which you draw the drones isn't shrinking. It is continuously renewed by replacing the P generation with F1's benefitting from the selection difference but subject to...

To be honest, I don't think that's the case at all. When I joined this forum, only a few people practised instrumental insemination. Over the years, others have "jumped on the band-waggon" without understanding that it is only a technique. It means little unless you test the progeny you've mated...

Well, if they're important to me, don't you think they might be important to others too?

I suppose that makes me senile and/or stupid and/or have nothing better to do

If you're asking if bee semen can be cryo-preserved, the answer is "Yes". However, this is a specialised technique that requires the semen to be stored in liquid nitrogen so it isn't in common usage. The value of the breeding line would have to be quite high to warrant using a technique like...

Actually, you only need about 45 days from the egg being laid until the drone is mature enough to collect his semen. I have frames of drones in my colonies now that are almost ready to "harvest". My doubt is not whether it is possible to do it, but, whether it is possible to make a profit from...

Yes. They were balling at first but, as I teased the ball apart I could see they were stinging her too. The aggression wasn't limited to the queen thugh. The workers that were in the nuc were attacked too. I checked the nuc last night and didn't see a queen. Obviously, I could have missed it but...

Obviously, there's a lot more to swarming, and bees, than we thought!

This seems to be a lot more common than I thought. Imagine going 30+ years and never witnessing it? Mind you, none of my bees are at home so unless I'm actually in the apiary when it happens, I probably wouldn't see it. I have mixed feelings about this: one the one hand, I lost a virgin queen I...

Yes. This is exactly what I saw. I haven't seen it in over 30 years of beekeeping in the UK but that is definitely it. I wish I had taken some video but I'd left my phone at home. I did see a second ball which didn't seem as big as the first (containing my virgin queen - marked with a numbered...

That's beyond me, I'm afraid. I remember doing polar co-ordinate questions using degrees and minutes in maths class years ago but I don't think the teacher even mentioned "points". Why is a point 90/8? EDIT: never mind - I googled it

I'm not too far north of you but I'm finding brood boxes choked with pollen and fresh nectar. I think it depends on how much foundation he wants them to draw out. You'd also have to be a bit careful to shuffle individual frames around a bit too - to stop them sticking frames together. I have...

Personally, I don't feed a swarm. If they need food, there's plenty of forage around at the moment. I suppose, if you wanted them to draw out lots of foundation, you could feed as much 1:1 as it takes to draw out the comb

Thank you. I learned something I didn't know there.

Ideally, you want a swarm to use any food it's brought with it from it's old colony in drawing wax so you shouldn't need to feed it.

OK. I should say up-front that I would be sceptical if I read this, but I was in the apiary and watched it happen myself. On Sunday evening ~6pm a swarm came in. It alighted on one of my mating hives (which are Paynes Langstroth polynucs - big enough to be almost a hive in itself). This polynuc...

I'm not in Ireland but a double Langstroth gives enough comb area for even the most prolific queens here in Bedfordshire. The problem is that the nectar can come in so fast that they plug up the brood area, leaving the queen little space to lay. You have to keep on top of that if you can. I use...

- I use double Langstroth brood. If you've a young queen in there, just keep adding supers and let them fill them. If she's "getting on", you may need to watch for swarming preparations. I don't know where this idea of splitting strong colonies comes from. The strong ones will produce loads of...

Who knows with bees? Sometimes they do some very strange things. I suspect the queen may be just getting started laying - they often lay a few eggs in cups as an insurance in the beginning but the bees tear them down once he queen gets into her stride. I suspect you'll find more eggs in the...