which queen

[wood blewit]

Need to re-queen my hive this spring , local experienced beekeeper has offered me near native welsh black Queen i really fancy the idea to try and up the local population but am a little concerned that the hive to re-queen is of buck fast queen decent would this be a problem?? inexperience rules

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Need to re-queen my hive this spring , local experienced beekeeper has offered me near native welsh black Queen i really fancy the idea to try and up the local population but am a little concerned that the hive to re-queen is of buck fast queen decent would this be a problem?? inexperience rules

Shouldn't be - I introduced a similar queen to a nuc of my pure Buckfasts last year no problem - remember, six weeks after she starts laying they'll all be her progeny anyway

 

[Swarm]

A good choice IMO.

 

[PBee]

If it was the other way around it would probably be more difficult. Buckfast are relatively easy to requeen.

 

[Walrus]

It should be fine if you are careful with the introduction. I put her in a butler cage on top of the frames and wait until the workers are happy, which can take a while (1-2 weeks).

I'm not sure that one queen will make much difference to the local gene pool but it will be nice to be able to compare the black bees to the yellow ones.

 

[wood blewit]

Nice Pat Swarm looks very much like one of my bitches

 

[wood blewit]

Thanks for your comment Iveseen. but the breeder i'm getting the queen from has over the years along the welsh border where i am, been supplying beeks within the area with same said queens so the next beek to me with similar bees is 4 miles away so basically nine keepers spread over 30 miles give a good overlap and with the inevitable swarms doin one with an apis mm at the helm who knows we may be playing a miniscule part in the reintroduction of the black bee .

 

[Excession]

You could also do your bit by replacing one of the brood box frames with a super frame, that will encourage your bees to build a strip of drone comb and put out more of your bees genetics into the mixing pot at the local DCA.

 

[RoofTops]

The safest cage to introduce a queen fits over sealed brood, you can get them here: I have used these and a local beekeeper who rears a lot of queens reckons he has never had a failure using this type of cage.

The other option would be to put 2 or 3 frames, less the old queen but including brood, stores and lots of nurse bees in a nuc and then introduce the new queen to the nuc with a normal cage with fondant release. The flying bees will depart back home but that doesn't matter. Unite them after a week or so having removed the old queen from the hive.

 

[For want of a better word]

The safest cage to introduce a queen fits over sealed brood, you can get them here: I have used these and a local beekeeper who rears a lot of queens reckons he has never had a failure using this type of cage.

The other option would be to put 2 or 3 frames, less the old queen but including brood, stores and lots of nurse bees in a nuc and then introduce the new queen to the nuc with a normal cage with fondant release. The flying bees will depart back home but that doesn't matter. Unite them after a week or so having removed the old queen from the hive.

I would go with the NUC and young brood option and then merge once accepted.... do not forget to squish the old buckfast type queen first, you could also leave the old hive queenless for 24 hrs.

 

[Swarm]

Cheers wood blewit, he was 6mths old in that pic.
I'd opt for creating a nuc first as well. Good luck with it, I'm considering the Welsh Black route myself.

 

[Chrisfnvs]

Cheers wood blewit, he was 6mths old in that pic.
I'd opt for creating a nuc first as well. Good luck with it, I'm considering the Welsh Black route myself.

What is his name Swarm, he look like a real character

 

[PBee]

The optimum conditions with cage release is to have the queen caged on emerging brood. For breeder queens I make up the nuc with sealed brood giving each frame a shake to dislodge the older bees and adding extra frames as needed (including pollen and stores). Nuc then left for a day or two in the apiary of origin to allow any older bees to return to their hive and then queen caged on emerging brood but leaving fondant barrier in place (after a quick check for queen cells) . I then release the queen after 4/5 days and watch to ensure she is being accepted. She will usually have started to lay in the cage and have a retinue of bees from those emerged inside.

Unassembled (Nicot) cage .....

 

[wood blewit]

Thanks Guys you Have all been very helpful especially about the methods of introduction , its a minefield out there so many differing techniques, i am certainly going to look further into the nuc approach and the cage over brood method ,, its all new to me this is the first requeening ive done, cheers .

 

[Swarm]

Stunning!!!