lots of work for next year

[jeff33]

You know you have a lot of work to do over the next few weeks/months as well as a fair bit of head scratching when over 35% of your stock has been marked for dispatch and 3 good queens bought in for stock improvement next year have been killed on introduction!!! If it wasn't for the best honey crop I have had, this year would have been a disaster!!

 

[magor]

when over 35% of your stock has been marked for dispatch and 3 good queens bought in for stock improvement next year have been killed on introduction!!!

which method did you follow?what was the state of the colonies?

if is for stock improvemnt may should invest in nucs for introductions but that means more bought queens for divide those dispatch colonies, so may also in a small queen breeding program(easier accpetance than post queens)?

 

[jeff33]

which method did you follow?what was the state of the colonies?

if is for stock improvemnt may should invest in nucs for introductions but that means more bought queens for divide those dispatch colonies, so may also in a small queen breeding program(easier accpetance than post queens)?

Same method as I always use, introduced to a 3 frames nuc with mostly nurse bees. It always works well, apart from this time!!

 

[magor]

do you create emergency nucs (larvae brood) or hopelessly nucs(emerging brood only) ?

actually newly emerging bees accept the Q , nurses have already been exposed to old Q and her brood pheromones and if ve the chance(larvae brood) priority is make their own so you ve to wait brood sealed and cut any emergency Qcells and sometimes need also(so as do no supercedure after) one more larvae comb to be added after and do the same(wait and cut) and then introduce new one making nurses definetely hopelessly ,personal when i ve to do this i also prefer do no put much stores in the nuc until acceptance so as do no incourage nurses(''fasting and desperate'') , its kinda ''false'' that with nurses are those accept new Q when nurses ll do the most can do to reign their genes and nurses are those bees who will protect their brood their Q and that is what you want to happen when unite colonies , its different and confuse

when make nucs want to rise their own cells then yes population need to be much and mostly nurses also store combs need to be plenty but when make nucs to introduce them new Q and more a post Q(completely foreign pheromone) then need emerging brood > bees and as old enouf to emerge as soon possible

 

[jeff33]

@magor I make both depending on the situation. These ones were hopelessly queenless nucs made with 2 frames of brood which were left above a qx for 8 days before being transferred to the nuc. I always do this way with bought in queens.

 

[magor]

keepin brood above qx for 8 days give you clear sealed brood but bees do no pass into any queenless situation either emergency either hopelessly just maybe into supercedure conditions if they draw any queen cell?

maybe double screen board than qx ?

 

[jeff33]

@magor, nucs are left q- for 12 to 24h before I introduce a new queen. I think it is the donor hive I have used, they just don't accept anything. I need to requeen this hive, should be fun!!

 

[magor]

jep thats what am saying , is little time for bees to accept a stopped layin and more a post Q with different retinue pheromones , them more in a shock or and maybe ve just pass into emergency situtation without the know yet that them do no have the right brood to do as ussually? but definetely them ve not pass into hopelessly situation to accept anything

methinks that method suits more to introduce a ripe Qcell

anyway , gl hope you find the way and requeen them