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I agree with you that doing anything worthwhile is never cheap nor easy. However, if you are reliant on open mating, it would seem to be a sensible precaution to use instrumental insemination. A bit like driving a car - you can never be sure what the other guy is going to do so you take sensible...

That's possible but I'm not a huge/regular customer of this supplier so I wondered why they'd put their credibility on the line. It's also possible that there is a problem with moving goods around the world due to covid at the moment. Just take it as a "Heads up" for what it's worth

I bought some fondant for nucs recently and have just received an email from the supplier: " Hello, I rarely send update emails but you may have noticed a shortage of sugar products. All our sugar products are on order but no confirmed delivery date due to a global shortage. Four main reasons...

If they are that hungry that they starve, putting a new queen in is like signing her death warrant. It won't work. The best you can do is feed them then add a frame or two of sealed brood before adding the queen, ideally under a push-in cage as the bees are likely to be quite aggressive towards her

Ohhhh Yes. I didn't look closely at the photos. Where are you located? It would help if this was on your profile. Have you no nectar coming in there? You could feed a light syrup to keep them going.

The only thing worth adding to what has already been said is that bees usually reject alien queens if they have eggs/larvae of their own (sometimes even when they don't if it's not in a nectar flow). The presence of young larvae seems to be a determining factor. How long ago was the last frame...

Now, do you mean a locally produced F1 of good origin and temperament or do you mean the local mongrel? If I had £1 for every time I've heard the "local bee" story, I'd be a very rich man.

They were narcotised with CO2 and hadn't come around yet.

Queens are lying in their cages with a dazed look on their faces. I didn't hear anyone asking for cigarettes so maybe they didn't enjoy it much. We'll see if they start laying in a couple of days

3 should be enough. Use your judgement about the thickness of the paper. I haven't bought a newspaper in years so it's just a guide.

Personally, I wouldn't dream of spraying a food-producing animal with air freshener. Others might do it, but I wouldn't. Multiple layers of newspaper pierced with a pin (or something that impedes their passage) would delay them from mingling

That would probably work so long as it was a slow combination.

I have no idea. Would you like me to send you some so you can decide for yourself? It doesn't look like cappuccino to me.

Collecting drone semen for instrumental insemination of queens - I suppose claiming that no animals were hurt during the process is a bit pointless! ;):D People often say drone semen is the colour of cappuccino. I'd say it was more pinkish, wouldn't you?

yes. I am not importing packages. I am importing queens as part of an ongoing development project (at my own expense). Not for commercial gain. These bees will never be sold on. The idea that raising your own queens can compare with a selective breeding programme is preposterous. The only way...

late bees don't fly (neither do late parrots) ;) :LOL:

I know Desmond. It's an easy test to do though, and one that provides immediate results (well, 6 hours later is almost immediate).

We disagree on that but, if you'd like to provide evidence to support your statement, I'm sure we'd all be very interested. I'm not sure where this "a better bee" idea came from.

Yes. I can see where you're coming from but if someone tries to feather their own nest at your expense, do you accept it? I am actually following the rules (both EU and UK) completely. I would just like some assurance that the NBU are going to do something with these samples and it isn't just...

Me too...but, that's not what I meant. The choice is free, the activity is far from it.