Some Q rearing pics

[Poly Hive]

http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/album.php?albumid=36

What are you looking at?

The bench shot shows the dipper for cell cups, and one of my plywood strips to take 12 plugs for the grafts.

There is a general shot of the nucs in store. There are two shots of the bottom of both the older and newer type of nuc showoing the closure. These nucs are some 20 years old now.

Three is a shot of the open nuc showling the top bars, perspex cover slip and roof, and hopefully the little feed compartment can be seen too.

Also there is one of the inside of the roof showing they originate from Germany.

PH

 

[Hivemaker.]

Thanks for putting your pics on PH, hope we get some summer now, and you get them all filled and in action.
PS you need to get that chisel sharpened.

 

[Poly Hive]

its a tin opener and wedge bar popper ooter

First internet buy I ever made was an Arkansas stone.

PH

 

[Bcrazy]

Hi PH,

Have you been growing tatties in the small Nuc?

I use Api's and Wernholtz (not sure of spelling).

Good luck for the coming season.

I have put 3 photos from last year queen rearing exercise in the Albums sec..

Regards;

 

[Poly Hive]

They need a through clean out but in between running here at 100%, and constantly decorating, (9 rooms done now and two to go) washing out nucs is not high on the agenda.

PH

 

[BKF Admin]

Nice pics guys thank you.

I love the one of the queen cell.

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Is the BBQ a nuc as well?

 

[Poly Hive]

That is a Weber and an excellent pice of kit too, and in the instructions was a brill bit of advice which is to put a baking tray between the charcoal and the food so that fat drips just vaporise and don't flash up and scorch.

PH

 

[jimbeekeeper]

Thats a good tip!

I hope to crank up the old BBQ this year, a bit more than last.

 

[Bcrazy]

Whilst on the topic of queens I would like to add the following;


Among the many problems with Queen rearing is the susceptibility of the queen becoming infected with viruses.

Roger Patterson from the BBKA forum has indicated on many occasions that its not only the weather that is to blame for poor parentage, there are many other factors which we still do not fully understand.

I totally agree with him as during my inspections I came across a sorry looking colony. I tested for Nosema and it proved positive.
I then thought about what you had mentioned in previous reports on queens suffering from Nosema and decided to pull the queen for dissection.

The colony had no brood no larva and no eggs so that told me the queen must be suffering with Nosema also. The queen herself was the normal shape but extremely thin. By the way she had been producing well earlier in the season, so I know she was in good order.

On dissection of the queen after removing the tergites and viewing the internal organs it was noticeable that the ovaries? were very thin whereas they should be thin at the beginning then expanding to full size and quickly tapering to the oviductus.

On examining the organs I found the following;

The individual ovarioles were thin and it was hard to distinguish the oogonia (small cells which eventually change to eggs), and surrounding follicle cells.
The egg chamber and the nutritive chamber on either side were virtually empty of any substance.

This I believe is the Nosema spores fighting for nutrients in the ovary of the queen and therefore not allowing normal egg reproduction.

The final inspection was to test for Nosema. Positive!

I destroyed the small colony to put them out of any misery suffering with Nosema.

So there you go Roger proof of one of your theory?s.

Regards;

 

[Hivemaker.]

Bcrazy. Question. did you happen to notice if this Queen still had live sperm,or did you not look.

 

[Bcrazy]

Hi Hivemaker,

No I did not check the spermatheca to see if there were live sperm.

That did not occur to me at the time as she was laying well last year. So with that thought I would assume the sperm would be still live, but that's only an uneducated guess.

Regards;

 

[Poly Hive]

Without wishing to decry any of your work Bcrazy one has to beware of the generalising from the particular.

I personally think that one example is barely proof of anything in a scientific way.

I am sure that Queens are adversely affected by Nosema and always have been. Nothing new there.

I have views on the cry of Wolf from certain quarters. I am very wary.

PH

 

[Bcrazy]

Hi PH,

Yes I would agree about generalising, but in this instance the queen was infected with Nosema and this was the cause of her ovaries being in the state they were.
As I mentioned she was laying perfectly well during the season, which was her first full season.

I am not trying to prove anything scientific when dissecting bees, I only say what I find. In no way am I scientifically minded.

I am sure that Queens are adversely affected by Nosema and always have been. Nothing new there.

Yes your right of course, and I was not trying to identify something new.

Surely we must look at the overall picture concerning poor queen performance, it is probably a culmination of various genes passed down the breeding line.

Anyway I thought it might help beekeepers to better understand that this is one of various symptoms of Nosema.

Regards;

 

[Poly Hive]

You see as a matter of course In autumn I dose my colonies with Fumidil. I wonder how many also do so?

Mind you this thread is wondering away from the rearing of Queens.l

PH