[…]are introduced to; there is a knock-on effect on the local population. Drones produced by imported queens will mate with new queens in the area, perpetuating our randomly mixed stock. The net result is an unstable genetic mix, often with undesirable qualities. This makes selection and improvement of our bees slow and difficult, as hybrids do not breed true, producing […]
[…]approach through the National Bee Improvement Programme (NatBIP). Achieving good matings for our queens The more queens we raise from selected stock, the more ‘good’ drones will be produced, and the more ‘good’ drones in an area, the better our chances of satisfactory matings for our newly produced queens. As small-scale beekeepers, we can increase our influence by working with […]
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[…]as a ratio. Conclusion The use of a record card for each colony gives clear indication of which queen or queens are best for producing further queens from and perhaps which queens should be replaced. Decide what traits are important to you and modify the record card to suit your needs. The Winter is a great time for getting our plans […]
[…]committee member for the Native Irish Honey Bee Society and holds beekeeping, bee improvement and queen rearing classes at his home apiary. Along with Jonathan Getty, he has been giving online training to the more than 200 members of the NIHBS Queen Rearing Group Scheme since 2021. Their management system gives them little or no swarming and facilitates the replacement […]
[…]identify pure Norman black bee queens and these individuals are then used to breed more black bee queens (queen bees develop when they are fed ‘royal jelly’ a special food, when they are at maggot stage.) The black bee queens are then sent out to members of the association, who promise not to use hives with other bees within a […]
[…]starter and finisher colonies). Transfer larvae from the selected breeder queen. Distribute queen cells (or queens) to mating nuclei. Distribute mated queens. Most methods involve converting a full-sized colony into a cell raiser by either removing the queen or by physically separating the cell-raising portion of the colony from the queen. In contrast, in the Vorstman method, the cell raiser […]
[…]smokers or hive tools are to be used, other than those supplied. To identify stocks to raise queens from or to replace (we don't expect to kill queens!) we may place them in order of preference. This is for instructional purposes only and not to be seen as criticism of the bees kept by our hosts. Some apiaries may be […]
[…]aimed to identify how to optimise sustainable productivity. The Study can be found (here) Imported queens are usually either pure sub-species, hybrids or man-made types. They are mainly from different evolutionary lineages that have evolved in very different ecogeographic conditions. It is well known that random mating with different types of bees creates arbitrary crosses that often result in aggressive […]
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[…]- Use of nucs, mini-nucs and mini+ nucs Whether you are using natural queen cells, emergency queen cells, grafted queen cells or cells produced from larval transfer kits (such as Jenter or Cupkit), the next step in the process is finding a home for the queen cell or virgin queen so that she can go on mating flights from about […]
[…]adequately. Rearing from poor weak colonies without adequate feeding will result in inferior queens. Queens can possibly be reared from mid-April to mid-September in many areas, with probably May and June being the best times, as long as adequate food is provided. A queen rearing colony should be provided fed unless the weather is fine and an abundance of nectar […]
[…]out how to create another 1-6 colonies for when a suitable larvae, queen cell, virgin queen or mated queen becomes available. Have a few things prepared so that when you get the call or email, it’s not a mad dash. As soon as the above equipment is used, figure out where the next frames, box etc. is coming from. Your […]
[…]value. If successful, those colonies can be requeened next year with better locally produced queens. If the queens were introduced to small nucs, there would be very few drones produced. If requeened early in the spring, then there will also be few drones, especially if the colonies are kept small. The whole exercise should not greatly affect Karl’s local population […]
