Clipping Queens - pros and cons?

[karl moss]

Clip or not to clip

Don't clip,leave it all to the natural world,saying that,i don't do many inspections just let bees do what bees do! In fact i am not really a beekeeper i am a bee landlord,and rarely collect my rent

 

[the beehive lodge]

 

[VEG]

its all well and good saying dont do this or that but at the end of it all, if you live in an urban enviromnent then by not doing anything i.e letting them swarm then you are doing beekeeping no favours.

 

[Into the lions den]

Do you mean you should leave her unmarked and unclipped for the whole of her first season?

Yes. The risk that a new seasons queen is going to become a swarmer is not huge. No real need therefore for her to be either seen or restrained from leaving. Young queens are often very 'spirited' and the risk of damage and queen loss is greater whilst hunting her down and catching her than just leaving well alone and accepting that the odd one will be the exception to the rule and swarm.

By the following spring they are generally a lot less flighty and take catching, clipping, and marking completely in their stride.

Unmarked and unclipped queens are a menace to us in the second and subsequent seasons. You do not know how old she is, she is far harder to find (in fact we could not cope), physically swarming out is several days earlier than if clipped, and if you do not actually manage the bees either and are in anywhere near a place with neighbours your ways can be a serious annoyance to others.

 

[Chris Luck]

I guess as usual it depends on any given persons reasons for keeping bees and their attitude to life in general...

...for me it's to have as natural a manner of interacting with the rest of the species on this planet as possible, all else takes second place.

Chris

 

[Davelin]

I guess as usual it depends on any given persons reasons for keeping bees and their attitude to life in general...

...for me it's to have as natural a manner of interacting with the rest of the species on this planet as possible, all else takes second place.

Chris

Isn't this a contradiction in terms?

How do you reconcile 'keeping' with ' natural interaction'.

To me I get great enjoyment from watching bees, but if there wasn't some honey in I don't think I'd bother. You can't keep them as pets.

 

[Luminos]

Isn't this a contradiction in terms?

How do you reconcile 'keeping' with ' natural interaction'.

To me I get great enjoyment from watching bees, but if there wasn't some honey in I don't think I'd bother. You can't keep them as pets.

I keep them to pollinate fruit/veg - any honey is a bonus

 

[user 3509]

One of our hives swarmed on Friday. The colony was small and seems to have been struggling to really get going. On Friday they got going - literally - even though there were still empty frames in the brood box. As a new bee keeper this was my first experience of a swarm. The bees were congregating by a conifer in a neighbour's garden and making a great deal of noise. When I went up to see which our our 3 hives the swarm had come from I happened to see something white in the grass near the hive from which the swarm had come. It was the queen. She had been marked and her wings had been clipped so she had not been able to fly off with the swarm. I picked her up and put her back into the hive and the swarm gradually came back so we were then able to create an artificial swarm later in the day when they had all settled down. If she had not been marked and clipped we would have lost the swarm so I would advocate clipping and marking every time.

 

[Hivemaker.]

I clip them all, but don't very often mark them,they are big enough to find very easily without that.

 

[Ely]

I clipped my queens wings for the first time this Spring. It is a good job I did otherwise I'd have lost a swarm!

If I was at all concerned about keeping bees naturally then I wouldn't have bothered keeping them. I think too many people empathise wrongly towards insects and other organisms, they project human emotion and feelings towards something that is entirely different consiously,physically and biologically. It is important to take as much care and be as respectful as possible but no need to be silly with it. 9 times out of ten the extra care taken only benefits the keeper anyway.

 

[Onge]

Don't clip mine.

 

[Chris Luck]

No projection of human emotion on to other species from me, nothing could be more removed from the reality.

It's all to do with my personal human morality that governs the manner in which I treat my fellow species. I provide good, safe homes for bees, equally I provide a good safe habitat for a vast number of other species and as I've mentioned before I don't even take honey from all my hives, I just love the natural world, in fact I love LIFE. Even wasps and hornets are safe on my land.

So, no contradiction in terms, I manage the habitat for the benefit of all and like others I have to eat which means keeping creatures and taking life.

Chris

 

[Lesley Hoppy]

Ok - thanks everyone - so far, more respondents advocate clipping the queens than not .....
Food for thought - but I am still not quite convinced that it is right for me - not yet anyway.

 

[Freddywasadevil]

Why would they break a chicks leg ? What purpose does it serve ?

 

[VEG]

they said wing not leg

 

[Lesley Hoppy]

Why would they break a chicks leg ? What purpose does it serve ?

I think they said the chicks wing - not leg. Presumably to stop it flying and escaping when it becomes an adult - it is common practice to clip the primary feathers for this purpose....
It did seem a rather random thing to post on this thread though!

 

[The Cumbrian]

I think they said the chicks wing - not leg.

It sounds to me to be a "backwoods" version of pinioning which is sometimes done to waterfowl in collections to prevent them flying away.

The end joint of one wing is surgically removed which has the same effect as clipping the feathers but is permanent.

 

[Drew]

I clipped my queens wings for the first time this Spring. It is a good job I did otherwise I'd have lost a swarm!

If I was at all concerned about keeping bees naturally then I wouldn't have bothered keeping them. I think too many people empathise wrongly towards insects and other organisms, they project human emotion and feelings towards something that is entirely different consiously,physically and biologically. It is important to take as much care and be as respectful as possible but no need to be silly with it. 9 times out of ten the extra care taken only benefits the keeper anyway.

Quite! Oh the ironing!

 

[Chris Luck]

It did seem a rather random thing to post on this thread though!

Yes and no, it's about deliberate mutilation and as ever the French are experts.

Chris