Chris my husband and I just found your videos last night and immediately subscribed!! We watched several older videos and then started the queen rearing ones! We are hoping to start making our own queens next year! We are in USA Florida so our season starts January! We start doing splits usually late February early March! PLEASE keep making your videos as it gives us over here something bee related to watch! Thanks again for sharing!!
Thanks for the feedback it is greatly appreciated. And good luck with the queen rearing, it is fascinating and rewarding. But if you are human, like me, be prepared to learn from your mistakes :) Cheers Chris
Thank you Chris I'm enjoying your videos . I'm hoping to start Queen rearing for the year shortly once this wet weather goes on the Eastern coast of Australia . You present your videos well .
Thanks Kerry. Good luck with your queen rearing. I am just finishing off the editing of Part 3, using a Cloake Board. I just need to go and re-shoot the ending, I forgot to turn the microphone on the first time I recorded it, haha. Not the first time.....
Great video Chris, it wasn't that long ago most commercial beekeepers would buy in queens and or queen-cells when the truth is they could easily have made their own queens equal to or better than anything they could buy and so can any hobby beekeeper if they just follow a few simple rules and its a most fascinating and rewarding aspect of the best trade or hobby in the world.
Very good info, I am looking forward to the cloake board part, I have never used it and like the method I use now but just for fun I have been thinking about trying the cloake board method. I also use and like the Chinese tool, it works well for me and I think I have the same glasses as you can't do it without them Thanks Scott
Thanks Scott. A local beekeeper teaches all the different queen rearing techniques to students at the local polytechnic and he isn't a fan of the Cloake board method because the original method involves a lot of heavy lifting. But he pricked his ears up when I described the way I do it using two entrances on the bottom brood box, and I think he might be changing his mind. As you will see in my video, an important step is lifting most of the brood from the bottom box to the top box a few days before you put the graft in. I hope you have success trying it. Cheers Chris
Great explanations thanks Mate! About to create my own queenbees this year, for the first time grafting that is. Until now I always purchased new queens which is costly. Looking forward to all vids of yours on how you will go about this. Havingprobablythesame spectacles. I have one excellent colony with marvellous genetics, I must clone them, are also extraordinarily clean. Having 30 colonies, alwas about 5 plus/minus. Everything weather-wise is like 1 month behind this spring here in Queensland, Au., cold n rainy but plenty of flowering will be a good nectar out there. Cannot wait to see whole your process Mate. Thank you.
One of the professional queen rearing beekeepers has advised to clean your grafting tool with alcohol before the grafting and afterwards to use a clean damp rag to clear if needed. By using saliva we increase the contamination to the egg. He says that it will improve the quality of how bees accept cells. Something I’m going to try this spring.
A very timely comment. I did a graft 20 minutes ago and used a grafting tool that has been used for about 10 grafts without being cleaned. As I picked it up I realised it was time for a clean. BUT, the last graft I did with it had 22 out of 24 cells accepted. So, maybe it isn't that important? Getting the starter hive packed with hopelessly queenless bees is, in my opinion, the most critical part of grafting to get the bees to accept cells. Put as many bees in there as you can, then put in some more :) Cheers Chris
I was taught to use the larvae that looked like a question mark. Not quite a c shape yet. The more light the better. I grafted 2 rounds this year. My take was closer to 50 percent. Used a Cloak board. Drew nice cells. Setting everything up is the hardest part for me. Thanks
Yes, the younger you can graft them the better. I find that if they are too small I have real difficulty picking them up, but if you can do it that is great. The age that I graft them at is producing good queens, so I am happy with the way I do it. Cheers Chris
I wasn't trying to be critical. I'm 70+ can write a book on bad eye sight. I use a powerful led headlamp with 3+ power clip on magnifying glasses.. Looking forward to the res of the series.
Hi Dennis, I didn't see your feedback as criticism, and I appreciate your comment. Keep them coming. There is always more than one way to skin a cat and I hope to learn more about what I am doing by getting feedback on my videos :). What I was trying to say is yes, I agree with you, but unfortunately I'm not skilled enough to graft larvae even smaller than the ones I currently pick. Hopefully as time goes by I will get better. Thank you for watching, I really appreciate it. Chris
There is a debate over grafting larvae that is younger than 16 hours. The larvae younger than 16 hours is still in the process of forming and may be easily damaged. Just a thought.
Great Videos!! Thanks. Some "Prime" the grafting cells with a bit of royal jelly - you seem to show that is not at all necessary. Also, would you consider making a video how best to produce queen cells without grafting, for smaller-scale beekeepers?
Hi Theo, yes you are right, I don't prime the cells and I still get a high percentage of my grafts take. But as I said in the video, we have quite high humidity here, it might be different where the humidity is very low, I don't really know as I have no experience in that environment. I would be happy to make a video of making queens without grafting, that is a really good suggestion. I wish I had thought of it :). There are several methods you can use. I will get on to it after I have finished the current 5 part series. Chris
@@KiwiWildman I have often wondered if priming helped because of humidity or because it provides extra jelly to increase larval health to increase the odds. You seem to show its not necessary for either odds or humidity, which is interesting. Of course, looking at your pix of how you grafted, you graft you seem to also take a large glob of royal jelly with the larva which may have been my mistake in the past. I like that you talk about what works for you, not general info on all the things one could do this or that way. In that sense, I am super interested what you would do if you don't want to graft and just want a few cells (if that is ever an issue for you). Thanks!
Hi Chris, Excellent vid series. Looks like like drones are now appearing in my hives, capped drone brood only so far, not seen any flyers yet, so its definitely picking up. Where did you get the star wars magnifying helmet? I am of that age too now and could do with a set. Spring expansion - exciting times! Keep them coming mate!
Hi Daren I bought that magnifying helmet a few years ago and I can't remember where lol Perhaps its not just my eyesight that is going.... I am pretty sure you can buy them at Jaycar, and probably for sale on trademe too.
Yes, it works great. We don't get as much sun as you guys, but it doesn't take much to get it working. I have it mounted at quite a steep angle to catch the sun, we are a long way south here so the sun is lower in the sky for a lot of the year. It is also on a pivot so I can turn it directly toward the sun, but I hardly ever remember :)
@@Rado-bq3pf Yes, it does. I have racks made of wooden frames with screen mesh stapled on them to sit the wax on and the bottom is lined with aluminum oven liners which heat up in the sun and the wax runs down them into a catch container. Most of the rubbish gets left behind on the mesh screens. I replace the screens when they are clogged up. On a sunny 20 degree C day all the wax melts and runs to the bottom in an hour or two. I still process it again to get the last of the rubbish out of it.
Yes, I have. It depends on the time of day and weather. If it is good weather and the bees are flying that is better. The bees in the top box should know they are queenless after a couple of hours, but the process of bees migrating into the top box won't be complete, so your bee numbers in the top box won't be as high and your success rate might be lower. It is better to wait the full 24 hours if you can.
Hello Chris. Question about mated queens. Did you ever have a queen that laid some good eggs and some drone (two or more eggs) in a cell but then straitened out and started to lay good. I have a mating mini nuc that have good eggs and some have more than one. Is that a bad queen or is that something usual? Thanks
@@andrewk1191 Hi Andrew, yes, I have seen that and the queens went on to be good queens. Sometimes they take a while to get going as newly mated queens. Its probably more common than we know as we may not see it if we aren't checking them often. If she was doing that in the first week I wouldn't worry about it. If it goes on longer I would consider replacing her. Cheers Chris
@@KiwiWildman Great. I will be doing my last graft of the season tomorrow. 6th one this season!!! Glad I found your channel last year. Using your method and have good success with it. Always have queens for my apiary (17 hives) and some to sell on a side. Thanks again!
You are so easy to understand, thank you
Thanks from the USA
Chris my husband and I just found your videos last night and immediately subscribed!! We watched several older videos and then started the queen rearing ones! We are hoping to start making our own queens next year! We are in USA Florida so our season starts January! We start doing splits usually late February early March! PLEASE keep making your videos as it gives us over here something bee related to watch! Thanks again for sharing!!
Thanks for the feedback it is greatly appreciated. And good luck with the queen rearing, it is fascinating and rewarding. But if you are human, like me, be prepared to learn from your mistakes :) Cheers Chris
Thank you Chris I'm enjoying your videos .
I'm hoping to start Queen rearing for the year shortly once this wet weather goes on the Eastern coast of Australia .
You present your videos well .
Thanks Kerry. Good luck with your queen rearing. I am just finishing off the editing of Part 3, using a Cloake Board. I just need to go and re-shoot the ending, I forgot to turn the microphone on the first time I recorded it, haha. Not the first time.....
Great video Chris, it wasn't that long ago most commercial beekeepers would buy in queens and or queen-cells when the truth is they could easily have made their own queens equal to or better than anything they could buy and so can any hobby beekeeper if they just follow a few simple rules and its a most fascinating and rewarding aspect of the best trade or hobby in the world.
Yes, I agree totally
Very good info, I am looking forward to the cloake board part, I have never used it and like the method I use now but just for fun I have been thinking about trying the cloake board method.
I also use and like the Chinese tool, it works well for me and I think I have the same glasses as you can't do it without them
Thanks
Scott
Thanks Scott. A local beekeeper teaches all the different queen rearing techniques to students at the local polytechnic and he isn't a fan of the Cloake board method because the original method involves a lot of heavy lifting. But he pricked his ears up when I described the way I do it using two entrances on the bottom brood box, and I think he might be changing his mind. As you will see in my video, an important step is lifting most of the brood from the bottom box to the top box a few days before you put the graft in. I hope you have success trying it. Cheers Chris
Great explanations thanks Mate! About to create my own queenbees this year, for the first time grafting that is. Until now I always purchased new queens which is costly. Looking forward to all vids of yours on how you will go about this. Havingprobablythesame spectacles. I have one excellent colony with marvellous genetics, I must clone them, are also extraordinarily clean. Having 30 colonies, alwas about 5 plus/minus. Everything weather-wise is like 1 month behind this spring here in Queensland, Au., cold n rainy but plenty of flowering will be a good nectar out there. Cannot wait to see whole your process Mate. Thank you.
Hi, yes things are behind here too. Good luck with the queen rearing, its tricky, but worth it. Cheers Chris
I use a master grafting tool made in California by pierce. Highly recommend. Easy to use. A bit expensive but worth it.
One of the professional queen rearing beekeepers has advised to clean your grafting tool with alcohol before the grafting and afterwards to use a clean damp rag to clear if needed. By using saliva we increase the contamination to the egg. He says that it will improve the quality of how bees accept cells. Something I’m going to try this spring.
A very timely comment. I did a graft 20 minutes ago and used a grafting tool that has been used for about 10 grafts without being cleaned. As I picked it up I realised it was time for a clean. BUT, the last graft I did with it had 22 out of 24 cells accepted. So, maybe it isn't that important? Getting the starter hive packed with hopelessly queenless bees is, in my opinion, the most critical part of grafting to get the bees to accept cells. Put as many bees in there as you can, then put in some more :) Cheers Chris
I was taught to use the larvae that looked like a question mark. Not quite a c shape yet. The more light the better. I grafted 2 rounds this year. My take was closer to 50 percent. Used a Cloak board. Drew nice cells. Setting everything up is the hardest part for me. Thanks
Yes, the younger you can graft them the better. I find that if they are too small I have real difficulty picking them up, but if you can do it that is great. The age that I graft them at is producing good queens, so I am happy with the way I do it. Cheers Chris
I wasn't trying to be critical. I'm 70+ can write a book on bad eye sight. I use a powerful led headlamp with 3+ power clip on magnifying glasses.. Looking forward to the res of the series.
Hi Dennis, I didn't see your feedback as criticism, and I appreciate your comment. Keep them coming. There is always more than one way to skin a cat and I hope to learn more about what I am doing by getting feedback on my videos :). What I was trying to say is yes, I agree with you, but unfortunately I'm not skilled enough to graft larvae even smaller than the ones I currently pick. Hopefully as time goes by I will get better. Thank you for watching, I really appreciate it. Chris
There is a debate over grafting larvae that is younger than 16 hours. The larvae younger than 16 hours is still in the process of forming and may be easily damaged. Just a thought.
Great Videos!! Thanks. Some "Prime" the grafting cells with a bit of royal jelly - you seem to show that is not at all necessary. Also, would you consider making a video how best to produce queen cells without grafting, for smaller-scale beekeepers?
Hi Theo, yes you are right, I don't prime the cells and I still get a high percentage of my grafts take. But as I said in the video, we have quite high humidity here, it might be different where the humidity is very low, I don't really know as I have no experience in that environment. I would be happy to make a video of making queens without grafting, that is a really good suggestion. I wish I had thought of it :). There are several methods you can use. I will get on to it after I have finished the current 5 part series. Chris
@@KiwiWildman I have often wondered if priming helped because of humidity or because it provides extra jelly to increase larval health to increase the odds. You seem to show its not necessary for either odds or humidity, which is interesting. Of course, looking at your pix of how you grafted, you graft you seem to also take a large glob of royal jelly with the larva which may have been my mistake in the past. I like that you talk about what works for you, not general info on all the things one could do this or that way. In that sense, I am super interested what you would do if you don't want to graft and just want a few cells (if that is ever an issue for you). Thanks!
Hi Chris,
Excellent vid series. Looks like like drones are now appearing in my hives, capped drone brood only so far, not seen any flyers yet, so its definitely picking up. Where did you get the star wars magnifying helmet? I am of that age too now and could do with a set. Spring expansion - exciting times! Keep them coming mate!
Hi Daren
I bought that magnifying helmet a few years ago and I can't remember where lol Perhaps its not just my eyesight that is going.... I am pretty sure you can buy them at Jaycar, and probably for sale on trademe too.
I forgot to add... an interesting solar wax melter! Never had it. Is it any good?
Yes, it works great. We don't get as much sun as you guys, but it doesn't take much to get it working. I have it mounted at quite a steep angle to catch the sun, we are a long way south here so the sun is lower in the sky for a lot of the year. It is also on a pivot so I can turn it directly toward the sun, but I hardly ever remember :)
@@KiwiWildman thank you, will make one of these, makes sense. It brings cleaner gradual wax melting I imagine.
@@Rado-bq3pf Yes, it does. I have racks made of wooden frames with screen mesh stapled on them to sit the wax on and the bottom is lined with aluminum oven liners which heat up in the sun and the wax runs down them into a catch container. Most of the rubbish gets left behind on the mesh screens. I replace the screens when they are clogged up. On a sunny 20 degree C day all the wax melts and runs to the bottom in an hour or two. I still process it again to get the last of the rubbish out of it.
I’m trying to put in the cloakboard and graft after 2 hours rather than waiting 24 hours. Have you ever tried it?
Yes, I have. It depends on the time of day and weather. If it is good weather and the bees are flying that is better. The bees in the top box should know they are queenless after a couple of hours, but the process of bees migrating into the top box won't be complete, so your bee numbers in the top box won't be as high and your success rate might be lower. It is better to wait the full 24 hours if you can.
That a good reason to wait. Thanks again.
Hello Chris. Question about mated queens. Did you ever have a queen that laid some good eggs and some drone (two or more eggs) in a cell but then straitened out and started to lay good.
I have a mating mini nuc that have good eggs and some have more than one. Is that a bad queen or is that something usual?
Thanks
@@andrewk1191 Hi Andrew, yes, I have seen that and the queens went on to be good queens. Sometimes they take a while to get going as newly mated queens. Its probably more common than we know as we may not see it if we aren't checking them often. If she was doing that in the first week I wouldn't worry about it. If it goes on longer I would consider replacing her. Cheers Chris
@@KiwiWildman
Great. I will be doing my last graft of the season tomorrow. 6th one this season!!!
Glad I found your channel last year. Using your method and have good success with it.
Always have queens for my apiary (17 hives) and some to sell on a side.
Thanks again!