Jon

I have been trying to rope in as many people as possible to rear queens using local native type bees.
I have had a queenright queen rearing system set up for a month and a half and have hatched about 75 queens from my best two colonies with another 40 cells ready to hatch over the next week.
I try and get the cells into Apideas about 24 hours before they are due to hatch.
Interest has been growing and there are now about a dozen people involved, each with an Apidea or two usually unused, and often without even having the frames assembled.
We now have 25 at a mating apiary with Galtee bees and I have another 11 to leave over later today.
Local beekeepers are really keen to raise a queen or two but they don't know the steps involved with Apideas, even if the queen cells are provided.
Getting the bees into the Apidea seems to be a stumbling block for many and I have been demonstrating how to get the right age of bees and how to fill them.
Other problems include how to attach the starter strip in the frames and what type of food to put in the feeder.
Estimating the right amount of bees is another problem as too many leads to absconding and too few means a chilled queen cell.
I am hopeful that when people get a taster they will continue to raise their own queens in this way rather than going down the route of buying in.