thoughts on beginning queen reaing?

[prana vallabha]

this will be my third season of keeping bees is it to early for me to think about rearing my own queens ,and just a few thoughts of what method is best to start with .....many thanks in advance

 

[mbc]

For just a couple of queens going down the Demaree or Snelgrove routes make sense.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Agree with MBC demaree or some kind of split board system like a snelgrove or cloake board

i use the demaree,

I take my strongest hive when they have biult up and just before they are going to swarm (hahaha) i put the queen plus one frames in a new boxplus 10 foundation, Queen Ex above, two supers (or three on OSR) Another Qu EX the the old brood box, remove any non brood frames, dummy that box down and add my donator egg frame i want to breed queen from

check after two days and remove all QC, check after a futher two days and remove all non donator frame QC

you can make a strong colony by combining ,keeping Qu is an insurance nuc, then split back to two hives after or if you only have a moderatley strong hive then i would use a cloake or snelgrove board instead of a top QE (someone elsecan explan that method

 

[itma]

Are your bees "good"? -- ie do you think they are 'good' enough to bother trying to breed from them?



The first stage in Q rearing should be keeping accurate records, so that you can compare colonies - and decide which you might care to breed from.

For the two hive beek only needing to 'renew' his queens, I'd suggest just doing an artificial swarm and, once she is shown to be well-mated, recombining around the new queen.
Of course, if one hive is much 'better' than the other, then something more like Q rearing would be a better idea.

 

[fiftyjon]

this will be my third season of keeping bees is it to early for me to think about rearing my own queens

No.

with mbc & muswellmetro.

Read up about different methods and go for it, even get yourself a couple of mating nuc's.
Those that don't do won't make mistakes! It's how you learn and get experience.

 

[blackcavebees]

this will be my third season of keeping bees is it to early for me to think about rearing my own queens ,and just a few thoughts of what method is best to start with .....many thanks in advance

I think all beekeepers should be raising their own queens. It is great for improving you craft and you don't have to jump in at the deep end just yet. There was a post I think by polyhive on simple queen rearing I used in 2012. Last year I joined a queen rearing group and never looked back. This coming season I'm starting a local queen rearing group for our association. Its not mystical or rocket science, but something you have to learn, and return on investment is pretty good with you getting 2-3 mated queens from a mini nuc in a good season.

Give it a go, and best bit is we don't have to import foreign raised queens but can breed from stock we know is proven in our locality

 

[Stiffy]

this will be my third season of keeping bees is it to early for me to think about rearing my own queens ,and just a few thoughts of what method is best to start with .....many thanks in advance

I have been raising my own queens for a few years now and find it one of the most rewarding aspects of keeping bees. Even if you just raise a couple a year I am sure you will enjoy it and get a better understanding on how the hives work.
S


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[itma]

If your bees are not 'good' (whether by reason of swarminess, defensiveness or whatever), you aren't likely to 'breed your own way out of it' with just two colonies.

If they are good, then certainly aim to replace your own queens, and work from that.
But if they are horrors, don't perpetuate the genes. Do some ("varroa control") drone-brood culling ...

 

[oliver90owner]

Queen rearing? I have never bought in a queen.

It is not really queen rearing until you raise whole batches, I would suggest. Queen replacement for a two hive owner is a bit of a lottery. Bought in queens can give rise to horror queens after the first one or two generations, when mating with the local mongrels causes a mix of genes - not necessarily the fault of the local population, I might add.

Replacing aged queens should begin with splits at suitable times after preferably inducing supercedure queen cells as proposed above, or at artificial swarming if the beekeeper is unable to keep control of the swarming urge. Just simple beekeeping, nothing special to call 'queen rearing' really; no need to try to elevate a normal part of beekeeping to a special status! If you don't facilitate replacement of old queens, the bees will, by supercedure. You have little choice of checking the laying pattern, temperament or even getting her mated if this takes place late in the season.

Of course, it might depend on where you keep your bees, too. I don't particularly recommend rearing your own queens unless you have an apiary well away from neighbours - especially for non-thinking beeks!

RAB

 

[prana vallabha]

basically thats all i want to do , just raise a few queens so i can replace if needed and make a couple of nucs to over winter incase of losses, thats just one example ...thanks

 

[oliver90owner]

I suggest you start your nucs early, rather than late, and bleed off surplus capped brood (and stores?) to keep them nuc sized. Avoids wasp problems and can seriously improve the surplus from any late foraging crops. Of course, late nucs can be reinforced from stocks, but that may decrease their productivity or wintering strength.

 

[charlievictorbravo]

this will be my third season of keeping bees is it to early for me to think about rearing my own queens ,and just a few thoughts of what method is best to start with .....many thanks in advance

If you're at all handy with tools, you could try biglongdarren's breeding hive - see details at http://www.beekeepingforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=21480

I have not used mine yet but it's made and ready for the first queen cell I find!

CVB