Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Queen bees can be judged according to a multiplicity of criteria. For many beekeepers,
the two most important are 'productivity' (the number of eggs produced on a daily
basis) and the 'hatchability' of the brood (a measure of fertility).
If climatic conditions permit, the queen will fly and mate five or six days after emergence.
She will begin to lay eggs 36 hours or more after her mating flight, but usually after
three days. Therefore, when you check the nuc two weeks after placing the queen cell,
look for the following:
On one frame at least, a small, round patch of sealed brood surrounded by
uncapped brood. The brood should become younger towards the edges.
There should not be too many empty cells in the area of capped brood (the 'pepper
pot' appearance).
Eggs around the edges of the unsealed brood. At this time, make sure the queen is
safe and well.
It may sound tedious but, when you rear queens, it is essential to keep at least a note of
what you did and when. If you don't, you will inevitably forget where you have got to,
and so a great deal of preparation and hard work will go down the drain.
Breeding queens is complex subject but one that many beekeepers like to become
involved with for various reasons - perhaps they have dreams of developing a 'super-
bee' resistant to disease and able to gather more honey than any other; perhaps they just
