My Three 2017 Queens.

[Millet]

I have been through the hives brood area for the last time this year to check on stores and the Queen, i also hived the Yellow Queen from a double nuc into a polyhive the cold way, all went smoothly as planned and everyone behaved themselves within reason no attempted stings just the odd one checking me out (good rid dense those Thirsk mongrels).

The yellow Queen was bought in and she is a F1 Rumanian Buckfast she is not the best layer but the bees are really calm, she will prove herself next year no doubt.

The Blue one is a F2 given to me in a Nuc from Beefriendly and she is a egg laying machine in her first year, god knows what she will be like next year, these bees from this Queen are a bit sharper to check me out than the other two colonies but no aggression.

The white Queen that i marked is also from a test frame from Beefriendly and she is also a egg laying machine, i do not know if she can be called a F2 but these are the most docile of the three colonies i have, really slow on the comb and the Queen does not seem bothered by the light, she just slowly plods on.

In the picture i have added the last one is of the amount of yellow pollen they are bringing in, what is it from as the ivy is not flowering as yet. Ragwort maybe..? .

 

[Beefriendly]

She's an F1 Millet. You have her daughter as the F2.

 

[Millet]

She's an F1 Millet. You have her daughter as the F2.

Confused.com Haha.. , do you mean the White or Blue, i know the Yellow should be F 0 lol .

 

[Kenson]

As you are on the subject, F1, F2, F3 (and I presume etc.) what do these mean?
[I am tempted towards some humorous comment about "racing drivers", but it's a serious question]
Equally, can you determine the Fn nature of a Queen if you don't already know it?

 

[Beefriendly]

Millet it's the one you marked, white F1.
Kenson good question. Whilst not strictly accurate I usually refer to F1 as the daughter queens I breed from any Island or open mated queens I have bought. The F2 refers to any daughter queens from the F1.
In the UK F2 is usually as far as you want to breed as by then your bees are now more local than whatever you bought.

 

[kevrhcfag]

People seem to have an expectation that new queens will be perfect but like racehorses you get varying grades from excellent to average / poor if bought in and if you have something to compare with.

I thought the are fairly simple

F1 is open mated daughter of isolated mated / AI / II queen of know origin.
F2 is open mated daughter of above
F3 is open mated daughter of above but in reality just a mongrel. (proviso of local bee / drone population.)

 

[Angularity]

As you are on the subject, F1, F2, F3 (and I presume etc.) what do these mean?
[I am tempted towards some humorous comment about "racing drivers", but it's a serious question]
Equally, can you determine the Fn nature of a Queen if you don't already know it?

The F stands for 'filial', i.e. bother or sister line. The F0 is wherever you start the breeding programme from. You can read up all about crossing and backcrossing on the web. I only know this from plant breeding. Rearing queens is definitely in my 'Too Hard' box.

 

[Millet]

Millet it's the one you marked, white F1.
Kenson good question. Whilst not strictly accurate I usually refer to F1 as the daughter queens I breed from any Island or open mated queens I have bought. The F2 refers to any daughter queens from the F1.
In the UK F2 is usually as far as you want to breed as by then your bees are now more local than whatever you bought.

That has cleared that up Cheers.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Well done Millet. After all your trials and tribulations it's good to see

 

[Millet]

Thank you Erica being over the moon is an understatement.

 

[drex]

Rearing queens is definitely in my 'Too Hard' box.

No it's not. Give it a go. This year was my first year at serious queen rearing. I tried grafting and as a result raised 10 new queens. It has added a whole new dimension to my bee keeping, and is as hard as you want it to be. I used the Cloake board method and found it very simple and easy. I wrote a timetable out on the calendar which helped - timing is so important.
Have been. " selecting " for a few years. I feel selecting is more accurate a term rather than breeding for what I do. I simply cull queens whose off spring show undesirable traits , and choose the good to raise queens from. My bees are gradually becoming more docile and productive over the years.

 

[Swarm]

Thank you Erica being over the moon is an understatement.

I bet.

 

[Curley]

(good rid dense those Thirsk mongrels).

Ah that explains a lot. You had to be hard if you grew up in Thirsk, apparently it applies to the bees too.

 

[Millet]

Ah that explains a lot. You had to be hard if you grew up in Thirsk, apparently it applies to the bees too.

Even harder if you grew up here ;-)

 

[REDWOOD]

I like the markings and colour of your blue queen, she looks very much like our local Bees





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