Queen Rearing with Master Beekeeper Mike Cullen - Part One
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 19 ก.ย. 2024
- In this video, the first of a series, Josh joins Mike Cullen as he gets ready to create this year's queen bees from one of his prolific colonies.
This is the first stage of the process whereby Mike explains why it is that he has chosen this colony to graft from and why it is a good time to be raising queens yourself.
#bbka #mantelfarm
Very helpful video. Since the schedule of queen development is pretty tight, how do you handle rainy days when the timing suggests you need to get into the hive. Just get in there anyway when the rain is not heavy? Hope this question makes some sense. Here in the states, eastern Va, we are stuck in a pattern that’s bring sprinkles throughout the day. Thanks.
Hi Susan,
This is a perfectly valid question and makes complete sense. I personally would get inside if the showers are light or you've got a break in the weather. We had a similar issue this previous weekend which I touch briefly on in the next video due out. We had showers (heavy at times) in the afternoon only a few days after we'd made this inspection. I had found numerous queen cells inside the colony. They weren't especially happy as they were queenless and the weather hadn't been ideal. I expressed to the guys who accompanied me on this inspection that there are times when colonies must be inspected even if conditions would usually put us off.
I would always suggest that beginners have assistace or someone else with them in these situations as you do need to expect the bees to be grumpy and it is also helpful to have another person to spot any queen cells as they're often covered in bees - this is worse when they're not out flying in great numbers!
One of my colonies at home had managed to cap queen cells within only a few days - around four days! Perhaps I had missed some but I imagine they'd made some from larva that was still viable, so they were already ahead of me! It does show just how quickly they can get ready to swarm when they're wanting to. This is especially true of larger colonies.
We've had a really good spring so far and a good flow and supply of pollen, so they've really gotten going quickly.
I don't know if this reply helps at all, Susan.
It may well be worth doing a short video expressing this for others. If you have any other questions, feel free to reply to this.
Josh
@@MantelFarm Josh, thanks for your response to my question. I’ve just made it partially into Part Two of your series, and appreciate how comprehensiveness of your videos. Queen rearing is next on my list of learning, as well as setting up a reliable group of nucs to have when needed here. Up to 12 colonies now, with plans for increasing each year, so raising my own queens a must.
Yes, I would appreciate your comments on how to handle the weather. Rainy stretch here in eastern Virginia now, and we may well find ourselves in a long stretch of hot, humid weather without much rain in the summer. That leads to learning to read the pollen/nectar flows and when dearth’s occur here for supplemental feeding - when to feed and when to allow access to their own stores - or said another way, how much honey to harvest in early summer. Anyway, thanks again!
Hey,
So sorry I haven't seen this comment up until now! Somehow comments get hidden when they've been replied to. Still getting used to this TH-cam stuff.
I'm glad you enjoyed the videos. Some of the videos we produce in our own apiary are cut shorter due to the fact that many people simply don't like watching longer videos, but that is more a series and vlog where as the more specialised videos we hope to continue to do will always be longer and may span several weeks.
I'm glad that the weather has improved. We're entering an unsettled period of weather but it has been very dry for the most part but at times quite cool.
Reading the flow and when pollen is coming in is a really important part of beekeeping. I really do stress that the bees most definitely need plenty of food for winter and it is always best if they're using their own supplies with the nutrients they've selected naturally.
I also think people are often too eager to take away stores from their hives in order to get a return for all of their work over the season. Personally, I think the bees do virtually all of the work and we're simply manipulating their bahaviours to try and benefit how we work with them. All beekeeping should be done alongside how they work and we should never try to work simply for our own benefit.
Roger, who helps with our bees at the farm, thinks that opening the hives to check how they are doing under circumstances that are less than ideal, is of great importance at certain times of the year.
I've even opened my hives during the winter if I am particularly concerned about their weight or whether they should be moved into a nucleus or not. I think of the bees as my pets and I want the best for them.
I'm rambling on now! haha.
All the best with your queen rearing when you get there. It is an amazing process, however you do it. The satisfaction of getting nice colonies of bees is incredible.
Also, one thing to note: allow your colonies to produce plenty of drones if you've got good genetics in your hives. This means that you have got a good population of drones in the area for not only your virgin queens to mate with , but others too. This keeps a surplus of good bees in your area. I'm quite fond of drones and always allow mine to produce what they need to - I don't tend to use foundation in my brood boxes, but that is another matter.
Josh