What to do...keep Queen cells, destroy or other?

[B+.]

Most of my queens go unmarked, but when a person isn't managing 100 of hives, you can tell by the change in activity if they swarm. This time of year there are always clusters of bees at the entrance, that will suddenly change post a swarm.

I beg to differ. Mine are marked from emergence and tracked through their entire life. If I didn't have the evidence to support my claims, I wouldn't be allowed to enter the information into BeeBreed. It doesn't matter if you have 10 hives or 100, the same rigour must be applied

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Most of my queens go unmarked, but when a person isn't managing 100 of hives, you can tell by the change in activity if they swarm. This time of year there are always clusters of bees at the entrance, that will suddenly change post a swarm.

So basically, all you have said is a total load of bullshine you have no idea whether your bees have swarmed or not, how old you queens are or anything else as you don't bother managing your colonies, just cross your fingers and hope for the best at the end of the year.

 

[sugarbush]

I beg to differ. Mine are marked from emergence and tracked through their entire life.

I track my queens life span just as well as you. They get split in May, the old queen goes into the split, the splits get requeened in August, the splits get wintered as nucs and split in May the following season.

If it's a wintered production hive its queen is one year old in May, if its a wintered nuc it's queen is a year old in August. At which point they get re-queened.

The best rate of winter survivalbility is with young queens, which is why I use this system.

 

[B+.]

just cross your fingers and hope for the best at the end of the year.

We used to call that "let alone beekeeping". I didn't think there were any left.

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I track my queens life span just as well as you. They get split in May, the old queen goes into the split, the splits get requeened in August, the splits get wintered as nucs and split in May the following season.

If it's a wintered production hive its queen is one year old in May, if its a wintered nuc it's queen is a year old in August. At which point they get re-queened.

The best rate of winter survivalbility is with young queens, which is why I use this system.

That has a certain rhythm to it, I must say. How big do the colonies get if they overwinter as nucs? ADD And when are the reunites?

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

no wonder they don't swarm - the colonies are too small to do bugger all apart from try and expand.

 

[B+.]

I track my queens life span just as well as you.

Actually, you don't. Mine are marked with numbered opilath plates straight from the incubator. You have no evidence that the queen you see in a hive is actually the queen you think should be there. I have even seen marked queens return to the wrong mating hive. Such things happen and you wouldn't know it unless you had each queen individually marked.

 

[B+.]

That has a certain rhythm to it, I must say. How big do the colonies get if they overwinter as nucs? ADD And when are the reunites?

Look at the photo he posted above. They are side-by-side nucs like Michael Palmer does.

 

[sugarbush]

That has a certain rhythm to it, I must say. How big do the colonies get if they overwinter as nucs? ADD And when are the reunites?

My over wintered nucs produce honey in their first season after being wintered. Mine from last winter are now on 3 deeps and a medium and I have pulled 80 lbs of spring honey off, plus they have been split into nucs to winter this season.

I don't know how tall you like to get hives, but I keep mine about chest high, no more than 4 deeps or three deeps and 2 mediums. If they expand to a point of needing more space than that, honey gets spun out, frames go back on empty.

Yes they get wintered similar to the way Mike Palmer demonstrates. That is common practice in this part of the country and not a method Palmer invented, it long preceded him. I started keeping bees in 1989, this is the way I was taught and I have only been aware of Palmer for the last 10 years or so, only knowingly met him in the last 5 years.

 

[B+.]

Yes they get wintered similar to the way Mike Palmer demonstrates. That is common practice in this part of the country and not a method Palmer invented, it long preceded him. I started keeping bees in 1989, this is the way I was taught and I have only been aware of Palmer for the last 10 years or so, only knowingly met him in the last 5 years.

I only attributed it to Michael Palmer because he talked about his method at the National Honey show and he has spoken a lot about it here. Michael credits Kirk Webster as having taught him the method.

 

[sugarbush]

I only attributed it to Michael Palmer because he talked about his method at the National Honey show and he has spoken a lot about it here. Michael credits Kirk Webster as having taught him the method.

Yes and the method closely mirrors the methods that Brother Adam wrote about for wintering queens in nucs. I don't believe that the two methods geographically evolved in separate areas of the world. I think somebody, (arguably Charles Mraz) learned it from Bro Adam and modified it to serve our needs in New England and it was passed on from there.

 

[B+.]

Yes and the method closely mirrors the methods that Brother Adam wrote about for wintering queens in nucs. I don't believe that the two methods geographically evolved in separate areas of the world. I think somebody, (arguably Charles Mraz) learned it from Bro Adam and modified it to serve our needs in New England and it was passed on from there.

Quite likely. Who is to say where an idea originates after so long has passed? Michael Palmer talks about tracing it back to skepists

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

opilath plates .

Have hunted high and low for a convenient supplier; have got no closer than Lithuania I think. Any hints?

 

[B+.]

Have hunted high and low for a convenient supplier; have got no closer than Lithuania I think. Any hints?

I had some specially made in Poland last year but you can get them almost anywhere
https://www.thorne.co.uk/queen/marking?product_id=4415
http://www.holtermann-shop.de/index.php/cPath/70_65/category/koeniginnen-zeichnen.html
http://www.bienenzuchtbedarf-seip.d...hen-Zubehoer/Koeniginnen-Fangen-und-Zeichnen/

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

I had some specially made in Poland last year but you can get them almost anywhere
https://www.thorne.co.uk/queen/marking?product_id=4415
http://www.holtermann-shop.de/index.php/cPath/70_65/category/koeniginnen-zeichnen.html
http://www.bienenzuchtbedarf-seip.d...hen-Zubehoer/Koeniginnen-Fangen-und-Zeichnen/

Big Ts. Well I never; thanks.

 

[B+.]

Big Ts. Well I never; thanks.

Hells teeth man! Have you seen the price they're charging?
£27 when you can get them from Germany for 7 euro! Get a couple of marking tools at the same time!

 

[user 6228]

where can you get these?

a bit of googling found this

http://www.hitachi-chem.co.jp/english/information/2015/n_150917.html?WT.mc_id=global-en-hq-twitter

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Hells teeth man! Have you seen the price they're charging?
£27 when you can get them from Germany for 7 euro! Get a couple of marking tools at the same time!

In defence of Big T's, like for like it's euro 24.60, plus 7 of shipping
for call it £27 total IF they shipped to the UK, which they don't vs T's £27 plus £2 shipping. T's will go up as the exchange rate move feeds in so I'mm going to the site now.

@derekm : in line with the thread, get on your local BKA's swarm list, would be my suggestion :- ).

 

[Eyeman]

If supersedure cells are found in a colony, beekeeper should leave well alone and hope the outcome will be successful.

Why HOPE?

Reduce them down to one and clip the queen.

 

[B+.]

In defence of Big T's, like for like it's euro 24.60, plus 7 of shipping
for call it £27 total IF they shipped to the UK, which they don't vs T's £27 plus £2 shipping. T's will go up as the exchange rate move feeds in so I'mm going to the site now.

.

OK
I had a delivery from Holtermann last year. They do deliver to the UK. My stuff came via DHL