how to rear queens?

[beekim]

Hi can any one recommend books on queen rearing for winter reading? any courses going on in derbyshire?

 

[adrian wilford]

yes my favourite is
Queen Bee; Biology, rearing and Breeding by David Woodward
good picutres, small easy read paragraphs.

 

[masterBK]

Chesterfield BKA have a speaker booked coming to talk about queen rearing on 1st February. In meantime try Vince Cooks book " Queen rearing simplified"

 

[itma]

Hi can any one recommend books on queen rearing for winter reading? any courses going on in derbyshire?

Not wanting to be a spoilsport, but ...
Various recommendations are to be found in the multiple threads on the same topic, both in the Queen Breeding & Rearing section and in the Books section of the forum.
Take a look!
Courses in Derbyshire? Dunno, but y'know there is a forum area specifically for courses ...

 

[oliver90owner]

Hi can any one recommend books on queen rearing for winter reading?

They may be good for some 'extra' reading but a new beek this year with one colony is not going to be queen rearing, in any great meaning of the word, for at least another season. I recommend to keep reading good beekeeping books for this winter and not think about running until you can walk, so as to speak.

The normal increase is double or treble, but crops will decrease disproportionately as extra increase occurs.

Doubling or trebling with one hive is easy enough if strong enough to need artificially swarming. Old queen to new box on old site, new queen in with the rest and maybe split off another queen cell with a lot of nurse bees. Any further and a new beek with relative inexperience is likely to run into more trouble than they can easily cope with.

Advice for consumption/consideration, if you were thinking of practising next year.

 

[beebreeder]

Hi can any one recommend books on queen rearing for winter reading? any courses going on in derbyshire?

Totally agree with RAB but if you are a member of your local association they may have someone that rears queens that you could shadow to see how it works. Personally I did not even entertain queen rearing until I had ten full strong colonies and even then it was small scale

 

[susbees]

Nit-picking here but queen rearing is as simple as a successful Pagden AS which all beginners are likely to do in their first or second year as swarm control.

As for queen breeding, that's something else and yes I'd say that producing good, clean honey and getting several hives of bees through our crazy seasons for at least a couple of years is a good thing to concentrate on. With a bit of rearing

 

[For want of a better word]

ten full strong colonies
at a minimum!

For bringing on the queen cells... finishing ( if you do not want to use an incubator)
for producing enough healthy bees for your mating nucs and then frames of young bees and sealed brood for making up the nucs.........

Using a Nicot system makes it easy to get eggs from queens in prospectively good colonies..... from friends!

TRY IT !

 

[Finman]

.
I rear my queen in swarm queen cells. It is handy and I get splended queens.

40 years I reared in artificial system, but when I change the larvae in swarming cells, it needs no preparing work.
now 10 y I have used mostly swarming cells. I wait that first colony starts to build cells. No hurry to make it earlier.

 

[kazimazmaz]

Türkçe bir site belki size yardımcı olur.......
http://aricilik.gen.tr/index.php?topic=4905.0

 

[dclewis]

Going back a bit sorry for late entry but..
I prefer Laidlaw's Contemporary Queen Rearing to Woodward's book, (having read both I think the later was definately inspired by the former but is not as clear or detailed.)

 

[Brian Bush]

Hi Beekim
Follow this link to Khalil Hamdan list of publication. I found his Raising Honey Bee Queens publication most useful

Brian
http://www.countryrubes.com/information/khalilhamdanarticles.html

 

[tyke]

I would recommend "Queen Rearing Simplified" by Vince Cook. More of a booklet than a book. Easy to read and the recommended techniques are suitable for small scale beekeepers, eg those with only a few hives.

For me the best thing about Vince's suggested technique is that it can be done with a single hive and only a few manipulations. There is requirement for some modified kit but that can be made from adjusting existing brood boxes etc.
Andy