Requeen every year

[Swarm]

Generally speaking it is true (isn't it?), that the egg laying of a queen declines with age. There are exceptional queens of course. They remind me of hens in that respect, but there are exceptional hens. If you offered me a point of lay pullet or the two year old hen, I'll take the point of lay, except if the two year old was an exceptional layer and I was interested in breeding from her. Generally speaking, at the commencement of the first brood cycle, it is best for the queen to be young.

It's more about culling and replacing than an initial choice. One good season does not make a good queen, what is she like the following year? You have to allow this time if you want to assess your stock and work with the ones that prove to be better.

 

[Curly green finger's]

, if she swarms and has to re-establish a nest from scratch then she's basically spent.

This part is very interesting ceri.. I've a friend who doesn't control swarming, as he says why should he it's there natural process, he only has 3 hives.
He had a queen swarm last season and then swarm again after she built up for a second time, she was in a nuc and he is not Certian that she is even alive in the nuc.

By what your saying this stands to reason in some cases not all.

I have a cast swarm queen going into her third season she hasn't swarmed and only produced one super of honey not the most fecund queen last year but is in a 14x12 hive and filled this up to 5/6 frames of brood this last season and all other frames were rammed full of honey in the summer with a super full above for extracting.
All this winter and last she hasn't stopped laying by what I've observed.
She keeps going and laying I do wonder.

 

[Curly green finger's]

Australorp. Nice ones....had them many years ago. You won't go wrong with the good Aussie breed.

They are our eldests he started them off via hatching got registered
He got mum into it and now the other guys love it to.
They are huge birds but very magnificent looking and soft tempered good egg layers and not to bad tasting either.
Our out house is basically a chicken coupe even the drier has had hens laying in it on occasions.
Funny really the bloody house is a bit of a sanctuary for different animals of sorts.. Cats, dogs, Guineapigs, gerbals. Rats, big spiders, lambs, goats, rare breed pigs come in as young animals, all part of the children's lives. I want an observation hive in the house at some point I would love to be able to go to sleep watching bees how soothing that would be.
I don't know how that would fair for my relationship mind.