Queen Rearing

While queen rearing is a specialty about which several books have been written and many beekeepers follow as a source of livelihood, it is not likely to be followed very far by the average beginner. One should, however, be prepared to rear a few queens from time to time to supply special needs.

The commercial queen breeder requires a large investment in special equipment in order to secure a sufficient volume in his output to secure profit worth while. Little special equipment is necessary for rearing a few queens along with other apiary operations. The one who wishes to follow the subject in detail is referred to the book, "Practical Queen Rearing" by this author.

If only a few queens are wanted it is an easy matter to remove the queen from a strong colony and set her aside in a small nucleus with about two frames of brood and adhering bees. The colony finding itself queenless will at once start queencells. When these are sealed they can be carefully cut out and one placed in each of the hives to be requeened. If increase is desired a cell can be given to each division as described in the chapter on "Making Increase. " The cell should be placed in the center of the brood nest to make sure that it will not be chilled. Ripe cells must be handled with great care as even a slight jar may result in injury or death to the delicate creature.

By this method the queens are mated from the hives in which they are to remain, and the beekeeper needs only to make sure that the colonies to which the young queens fail to return safely, are given another cell. The queens mate on the wing and are often lost by capture by robber flies, dragon flies or fail to find their way back to the hive.

Queen rearing should only be attempted at a time when the weather is warm and the bees are gathering fresh nectar. At such times conditions are favorable for cell building, the young larvae are well fed and good queens are likely to result.

In preparation for queen rearing it is well to remove a comb from the brood nest of a strong colony containing a queen from which it is desired to secure offspring. In place of this comb give a frame containing a full sheet of foundation. A few days later the bees will have drawn the foundation and the fresh comb should be filled with eggs. Tender new combs are best for starting queencells and the bees will build them much more readily than on old and tough brood combs.

Where two strong colonies are side by side both should be removed to a new stand and one hive with empty combs placed between the positions formerly occupied by the two hives. All field bees from both hives will return to this position and soon a large cluster of bees will occupy the combs but they will have neither queen, or brood.

A shallow empty super can then be set on top of the hive to provide room for the new comb with eggs which has been prepared for use here. This frame should be laid on its side instead of hanging in the usual manner. Since the bees have no brood except what may be present in this new comb and no queen, they will at once cluster and start building queen-cells. The number of cells secured in this way will vary anywhere from ten to one hundred but it is a simple and dependable way to secure good results with no extra cost. If desired the cells can be re-moved after sealing and another new comb be given in similar manner.

Natural built queencells on side of comb.

Commercial Queen Rearing

When large numbers of queens are wanted, artificial cells made of beeswax are prepared. These are shaped much like the embryo queencells. They arc fastened in special frames to hold them in natural position in the hive of the cell building colony. The cell building colony is usually composed of a large cluster of queenless bees prepared as above described or by shaking bees from their combs into a cage called a swarm box. They are then confined in a dark cellar for a day or two until they are ready to be taken to a new location and placed in a new hive.

Queencells built in prepared base.

The prepared queencells are primed with a drop of royal jelly if available. Royal jelly is the milky jelly-like substance which the bees feed freely to queens in the larval stage. This richer food and the larger cells are sufficient to permit the young larva from a worker cell to develop into a queen. Queen-cells in which the larvae have not yet reached the time of sealing will be well supplied with this royal jelly. With a special tool which looks like a knitting needle flattened at one end the beekeeper takes a drop of the jelly and places it in the bottom of each of the queencells. If no jelly can be had he uses a small drop of honey and under favorable conditions this seems to serve nearly as well.

When the cells are thus prepared the beekeeper takes the tool already mentioned which he calls "grafting tool" and lifts a very young larva from its place in the brood comb of his breeding colony and places it in each. This is a delicate job and one which is likely to require a bit of practice to enable one to do without injury to the young larvae. The younger the larvae used the better results are expected although it is possible to produce queens with larvae up to about three days old. Experienced queen breeders advise the use of larvae not to exceed twelve hours old.

This prepared frame with its newly grafted queencells is now given to the queenless bees known as the cell-starting colony. From this point there is great variation in the common practice. Some permit the queencells to remain in this hive until they are sealed and ready to remove to mating hives. Others take them out after about 24 hours and give to another queenless colony known as the cell-finishing colony.

A young queen completes her growth in sixteen days from the time the egg is laid. On the eleventh day after the young larvae are placed in the cells, the queens will be nearly ready to emerge, and it will be necessary to remove the ripe cells to mating hives. The author has several times lost nice lots of young queens by a mistake in his timing. The first queen to emerge will at once start searching for others not yet out and will destroy them one after another until she is left alone as queen of the hive.

Queencells in special frames by artificial method.

It is at this point that the commercial queen breeder finds much equipment necessary since he must provide a nucleus for each young queen to enable her to continue normal activity until she is needed. Some divide ordinary hives into three parts with tight divisions which prevent the bees from passing from one to another. A flight hole for each division is on a different side of the hive to prevent mixing of the bees or the returning queen to get into the compartment of her neighbor.