Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Disadvantages
: This method involves a larval transfer and two hives (a nuc and a full
hive), and is not really the best method to use if you require only, say, 10-12 queens.
Note
: If you are unable to transfer the started queen cells to a builder hive in the
timeframe outlined above, don't worry. Just make sure you place the swarm box outside
in a convenient position and let the bees fly. Transfer the frame of cells when you can.
You must, however, remove the queen cells to mating nuclei (or an incubator) 10 days
after introduction. Swarm boxes are not designed for this but,
in extremis
, they will
produce queens.
Other methods
There are plenty of other methods of rearing queens but, because they are all based on
the same biological principles, they differ mainly in the detail. Read up and experiment
if you have the time because it is well worth the effort, but always remember two things.
First, timing is all important and, once you've started the process, you can't stop it until
the queens are finished. One year in Spain I had to move all my mating nucs at just the
wrong moment and so I lost most of the queens. Another time, the weather was very
cold and wet and so few, if any, of the queens mated successfully.
The second thing to remember is that any hive or nuc you want to develop queens in
must be queenless or the queen must be kept away from the developing cells.
Queen-rearing kits
There are several queen-rearing kits on the market, but they all employ the same
principle of inducing the queen to lay eggs in special, plastic, cell bases. These little
plastic cells can be removed and set into special frames that hang downwards without
touching the larvae. The frames are then placed into queenless cell-builder hives and
developed into queen cells.
While these systems allow the beekeeper a large degree of control over their queen-
rearing efforts, they are essentially for convenience: the same results can be achieved
without them. I now use the Cuckpit system whereas a colleague of mine employs a
homemade system. Another favourite system is the Jenter kit. Full instructions are
provided with all these kits.
