
Determine 4.13. We examine our two-way mating nucleus colonies one month after making them from the sources of enormous overwintered colonies. Right here a colony is discovered to have reared two new queens. This unit will then have one starter-colony eliminated and positioned into its personal hive physique with a separate backside board and lid to facilitate progress right into a full-size colony. Within the background, a colony discovered to have just one queen has had its division board eliminated.
When producing new queens and honey bee colonies, the objective is to applicable the correct quantity of sources to the job in an effort to produce a vigorous queen. Bills within the type of honey bees or tools all contribute to the price of rearing that new queen, and myriad designs exist within the industrial queen-rearing business for vessels that optimize the effectivity of rearing a brand new queen or beginning a brand new colony with the minimal quantity of bees and brood obligatory to attain success.
In pure queen rearing, nevertheless, the brand new colony isn’t just a location for mature pupae to emerge. Importantly, the colony can also be accountable for the essential job of feeding and tending the queen larvae previous to capping the cell.
Cultivating A Colony
To maximise the success of this course of, we should make sure that the starter colony has all of the parts of a full-sized colony, and every body we use in our starter colony have to be chosen with nice care. For that reason we really feel that our two-way packing containers are ideally suited to this course of.
By dividing every tremendous, or hive physique, into two mating nucleus colonies, we create an optimally sized cavity for the work of queen rearing to be finished. This eliminates the necessity for (and expense of) particular mating nucleus packing containers. Moreover, the rearing of a pure queen in-hive is a fragile course of that requires a bigger vital mass of bees and sources than does a typical mating nucleus, whereby the bees are supplied a capped queen cell that was reared in one other colony.
In our opinion, a mating nucleus of this commonplace measurement is unsatisfactory for elevating superior queens. Our packing containers hit the candy spot of useful resource allocation and important mass required for the rearing of superior queens.
The Correct Tools
Utilizing two-way tools for this specialised activity yields two distinct benefits over rearing queens in commonplace hive our bodies. First, we decrease the sources expended to boost every queen. Second, by having two mating nucleus colonies dwelling in a single field (separated by a detachable division board), we set the colonies up for a pure transition within the occasion that one of many mating nucs fails to boost a robust queen.

Determine 4.14. This colony has just one efficiently reared queen (essentially the most com- mon end result). Upon affirmation, the division board was eliminated and the brood frames are rearranged to be adjoining to at least one one other. This facilitates fast transformation right into a single, well-functioning unit. All bees inside the field are sisters, and no hostilities had been noticed.
Statistically, the percentages are that one of many mating nucleus hives will reach elevating a queen, however each might not. When this happens, we are able to merely take away the division board and mix the nucleus hives (sister colonies of an unique mum or dad colony). On this approach we keep away from squandering precious sources within the type of bees and brood frames.
Queen Bee Rearing: The 4 Combs
When organising a brand new nucleus starter colony for pure queen rearing, every colony receives 4 frames, or combs. These combs are organized so as from the outer fringe of the field towards the center. If the frames usually are not positioned in a two-way chamber with a center divider board, it’s nonetheless essential that frames 2 and three go within the center, between frames 1 and 4. If this method is utilized in a 5-frame format, the brand new or empty body could be positioned in place 5, to the surface of body 4.
Comb 1
The primary comb ought to largely encompass honey and be coated in each grownup forager bees and the youthful home bees concerned in curing honey. A comb of capped honey is nice, however a comb heavy with nectar, or with at the least partially uncapped honey, is best, as such a comb will include a wider age vary of bees. Ample meals reserves are essential to make sure the bees stay wholesome and vigorous all through your complete course of.
Honey is an effective insulator and the bees don’t have to incubate it at a excessive temperature as they do their brood, and so it’s applicable to have it in opposition to the hive physique wall. Bear in mind, we are attempting to copy the situations of abundance that characterize a hive getting ready to swarm. In these circumstances, there may be little room left within the hive for incoming nectar, leading to a congestion of employees attempting to off-load after which retailer nectar.
Comb 2
This subsequent comb consists of capped brood. We wish capped brood as a result of the tending of latest queen larvae takes virtually per week (starting roughly 5 to six days earlier than a queen cell is capped), and we would like younger bees rising out into the nucleus colony all through your complete course of. Employee brood stays capped for 14 days previous to rising.
Which means that younger bees will proceed to emerge from this body till simply earlier than the emergence of a queen, making certain {that a} good amount of younger bees might be current to feed the queen throughout her first few weeks of life earlier than she begins to be fed by her personal daughters.
Subsequently, this comb could have its cells cleaned out and polished for per week or two earlier than the primary eggs are laid by the brand new queen. This delay usually ends in the cells of this comb being backfilled with new pollen shops in anticipation of the rearing of a brand new brood nest.
Comb 3
We then add one comb of open (uncapped) brood. This comb ought to embody a combination of eggs and younger larvae. The presence of a lot of eggs will make sure that the bees have a wide array from which to select their favorites for queen rearing. It’s on this comb that the brand new queen cells might be made. This comb can also be in a hotter location because of its proximity to the middle of the cavity. The presence of a lot of eggs will improve the chance that the comb incorporates newly laid eggs, which won’t hatch for twenty-four hours or extra.
The timing of that is essential as a result of queen pheromones dissipate with time, and bees won’t provoke queen rearing till these pheromones are under a vital stage, usually taking a part of a day. Ideally the youngest eggs gained’t have hatched till the queen-rearing course of is already initiated, which is our objective, provided that bees increase higher queens after they can choose from very younger larvae. Looking for younger eggs which are standing firmly upright is helpful when deciding on this comb.
Selecting the Proper Comb

Determine 4.16. A well-made-up two-way mating nucleus colony with all of the requisite substances for 2 naturally reared queens.
Selecting a high quality comb with plenty of open, younger brood additionally helps make sure that nurse bees with well-developed hypopharyngeal glands are current on the comb tending to the open brood and producing royal jelly to feed the larvae. These bees are vital for including the mandatory provisions into the queen cell for the wholesome growth of the queen via pupation. For that reason, it is vital that this body con- tains each the eggs and open brood, as this combination will end in a pleasant age distribution, together with ample younger bees.
The oldest larvae current are the bees that may emerge close to the time of the queen’s personal emergence, and they’re going to bolster the provision of younger bees within the hive that are inclined to and feed the brand new queen. This comb could have some employee brood rising throughout the first week of the brand new queen’s life. These cells will then be cleaned out across the time when the queen lays her first eggs. Thus, she will be able to often be discovered on this comb when she begins establishing a brand new brood nest.
Comb 4
The fourth comb, like the primary, incorporates meals. This comb needs to be heavy, with full cells and little room for brand new shops. Nevertheless, in contrast to the primary comb it should include a big amount of pollen. Pollen is the meals provide for younger bees who produce the royal jelly used to feed the queen larvae. It will be important that they’ve satisfactory vitamin to take action.
This comb could have its pollen consumed as the brand new queen will increase her egg laying, and it’ll develop into a body of brood in brief order as the brand new colony develops. Thus, if utilizing two-way tools, this comb is finest on the inside to help the bees of their need to incubate this body at the next temperature.
All Hail the Queen Bee: Protecting It Crowded

Determine 4.17. On inspection day (31 days after initiating the walk-away break up), we hope to seek out brood in any respect levels of growth—signifying the presence of a wholesome, well-mated queen.
Final, and most essential, we would like the combs in our mating nucleus colonies to be thick with bees. They need to be so crowded that we might have a tough time becoming in one other bee. If the combs we take away from a mum or dad colony lack satisfactory bee protection, then we complement the inhabitants of the nucleus colony by shaking further frames of open brood upon the others, successfully including younger employee bees. (Remember to affirm the absence of the queen earlier than shaking a body of bees into a brand new starter colony). It is very important not skimp on sources when making up new starter colonies.
It’s preferable to make starter colonies within the spring as a result of a brand new colony requires the complete productive season for buildup. This season is, nevertheless, one among inclement climate, and the colony won’t have a brand new employee bee pupate and emerge for over 50 days. Making certain that the brand new colony has ample meals shops, too, will cut back any stresses and permit them to focus upon an important activity at hand—that of rearing a brand new queen.
Queen Bee Rearing: It’s All Within the Honeycomb
We attempt to use new combs for egg frames to help the bees of their chore of reworking employee cells to accommodate queen cell manufacturing. We desire to make divides with newly drawn combs from excessive of the winter brood nest in a western shallow tremendous.
Nevertheless, this method continues to be helpful in case you are utilizing bigger combs, similar to deep frames which are 91/4 inches (23 cm) in size or bigger Pure Nest frames as much as 13 inches (33 cm) in size. In these cases a smaller variety of combs containing the required parts can be utilized as an alternative.
By attending to those particulars fastidiously, we’ve success charges comparable with different strategies of queen rearing, and we watch whereas the bees produce high-quality queens that emerge from massive, well- developed queen cells. It’s a pleasure to expertise.
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