Breeding a new Queen

[steve_e]

I have two colonies this year, one that has built up very fast and seems very dynamic, and one that started well but only just seems to be holding its own at the moment. The comb isn't that old (couple of years) but is very dark, there is a LOT of chalk brood and the laying doesn't seem very consistent, with lots of empty cells in each brood area.

So I'd like to re-queen this colony (although the queen is only a year old) from a Queen in the good colony. Possibly also replace the comb (haven't got any spare so it would need to be foundation) on the weaker colony.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) the good colony shows no sign of wanting to swarm. I've only re-queened or increased in the past from swarming. Could someone advise on the best way to produce a new queen from the strong colony, that would also enable me to introduce it to the new one AND hopefully allow me to do a comb change.

Or is this too many things to try to achieve together?

Regards, Steve

 

[Finman]

.
Buy a new laying queen. It is impossible to "select" good mother queen from 2 hives.
3 th is very sick and out of question.

There is no quarantee that new queen is chalk brood resistant but then you see it. Keep hurry, and show no patience.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Probably not the best but certainly the easiest apart from Finman's suggestion. Substitute your naff queen with a frame of eggs from your good one?

 

[For want of a better word]

Catch queen in colony you want to requeen & cull her.
leave colony for seven days, inspect and remove any queen cells.
Place frame with new eggs/v small larvae from colony you want to requeen with.
let alone for 7 days and then very carefully inspect for any queen cells.......
Should be some... let alone for another 7 days and inspect for eggs.

You could bin some of the older wax... but if it has brood this could further weaken the colony and set it back.

Consider using one of the mild chalk brood remedies such as Hiveclean Chalkbrood.

Also possible to buy in a queen as there are now some available that are UK bred, and will show some hybrid vigour... but you may be lucky with a queen from your other colony... and it is fun to try!

 

[steve_e]

Thanks for the replies. Finman, I bought, for various reasons, three laying queens last year. Two of them disappeared without trace, one of them turned into this chalk brood queen, so I'm a bit loathe to spend money on more (it cost £120 for the three).

I'll certainly think about it though, thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks erichalfbee and icanhopit. I'm tempted to try with a frame from the good colony, if only because I've never attempted anything like that before.

Regards, Steve.

 

[steve_e]

Also, I didn't realise there was a chalkbrood remedy, so I'll give that a go as well, thanks!

 

[Goran]

When I was starting beekeeping, I " made" some sixth day queens. Surprisingly some were great. This year in lack of time and money I am trying with more primitive adaption of Cloake board method and sixth day ( instead of grafted eggs just frame with eggs), will see the result what will happen.. This is no necessity, but I have one great colony which never swarmed and always give buckets full of honey..

 

[Finman]

.
Holy ST. To rear own one queen from larva. It takes 6 weeks that new bees emerge. It is end of August then. How do you get it over winter?
The hive is sick and it needs at once a new layer.

 

[Finman]

When I was starting beekeeping, I " made" some sixth day queens. Surprisingly some were great. This year in lack of time and money I am trying with more primitive adaption of Cloake board method and sixth day ( instead of grafted eggs just frame with eggs), will see the result what will happen.. This is no necessity, but I have one great colony which never swarmed and always give buckets full of honey..

My best hive was going to swarm. I took there 15 ready queens 5 days ago.
It was guite a job to arrange mating nucs. It inherits swarming but it inherits huge honey poroduction too.
Today 6.8 kg onto balance.

Perhaps you know a guy who can give to you ready swarm queen.

 

[For want of a better word]

.
Holy ST. To rear own one queen from larva. It takes 6 weeks that new bees emerge. It is end of August then. How do you get it over winter?
The hive is sick and it needs at once a new layer.

BUT here in the balmy warm sundrenched gulf stream South West... we can have good weather and late forage up to end of October... when you lot in the frozen north are going fishing with ice drills!!!

 

[Finman]

BUT here in the balmy warm sundrenched gulf stream South West... we can have good weather and late forage up to end of October... when you lot in the frozen north are going fishing with ice drills!!!

Even ships go with good luck

,

 

[Hawklord]

If allowing the colony with chalk brood to raise a new queen from a donated frame, will that frame of brood become infected?

 

[Goran]

If allowing the colony with chalk brood to raise a new queen from a donated frame, will that frame of brood become infected?

Don't do that ever, always try to strong colonies do that job, even adding some young bees ( nursery), so colony is so strong that bees are "spilling" from a hive.

 

[Finman]

If allowing the colony with chalk brood to raise a new queen from a donated frame, will that frame of brood become infected?

It may and may not. If part of larvae get disease, the start is not resistant.

I breeded chalkbrood away from my hives with harsh selection. It took 3-4 years.
i killed tens of mated queens.

When the queen genome is resistant to chalkbrood, it can lay in infected cells and larvae will be normal. With that system I put new queen in infected mating combs and I discarded all queen, which brood become sick. From one queen I must cast aweay 80% out of daughters. - Even if the mother hive had no chalkbrood.

Another queen had 20% discarged daughters.

In most cases chalkbrood goes away in good summer weathers but appears again in Spring.

What I say, it is hard to get CB resistant queens with you tiny yard.
.

 

[Hawklord]

So would it reduce the chance of the new queen becoming infected if the q cell was capped in a CB free colony?

 

[Finman]

So would it reduce the chance of the new queen becoming infected if the q cell was capped in a CB free colony?

Only heaven knows