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Thread: Is inbreeding an issue with bees

  1. #11

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    Hi Gavin,
    The last time I checked (last september) the old lady was still going strong, last year she kept pace if not outperformed her one year old daughter in the laying stakes! Assuming the artificial swarm is successful and the new queen is laying ok when would I unite her back into the parent colony? also having only ever created three artificial swarms into full hives how would I go about splitting off the additional nuc?

    Steven

  2. #12
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by snimmo243 View Post
    Hi Gavin,
    The last time I checked (last september) the old lady was still going strong, last year she kept pace if not outperformed her one year old daughter in the laying stakes! Assuming the artificial swarm is successful and the new queen is laying ok when would I unite her back into the parent colony? also having only ever created three artificial swarms into full hives how would I go about splitting off the additional nuc?

    Steven
    You can unite whenever it suits. The friend who got me into beekeeping had a routine of splitting when queen cells were seen (in May), running two colonies through the summer and taking both to the heather, then uniting when they were brought back.

    The advantage of splitting off a nuc is that you have a second chance of raising a new queen, useful insurance in the kinds of summers we've had recently here. Just fill a 5-frame nuc box with one frame with one nice, unshaken queen cell left on (and its bees of course), some sealed brood, some open brood, some stores, and shake in some extra young bees (the ones that stay on after a light shake). Plug the entrance with grass for 2-3 days or take it away to a new site (you're trying to stop too many bees flying back to the old site). If you end up with two new queens you have the option (after assessing them for a month or so) of requeening the old one with the nuc, simultaneously boosting it for the late season (and maybe a heather or Himalayan balsam crop).

  3. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by gavin View Post
    You can unite whenever it suits. The friend who got me into beekeeping had a routine of splitting when queen cells were seen (in May), running two colonies through the summer and taking both to the heather, then uniting when they were brought back.

    The advantage of splitting off a nuc is that you have a second chance of raising a new queen, useful insurance in the kinds of summers we've had recently here. Just fill a 5-frame nuc box with one frame with one nice, unshaken queen cell left on (and its bees of course), some sealed brood, some open brood, some stores, and shake in some extra young bees (the ones that stay on after a light shake). Plug the entrance with grass for 2-3 days or take it away to a new site (you're trying to stop too many bees flying back to the old site). If you end up with two new queens you have the option (after assessing them for a month or so) of requeening the old one with the nuc, simultaneously boosting it for the late season (and maybe a heather or Himalayan balsam crop).
    So I would take the nuc off at the same time as the artificial swarm? in essence taking 2 artificial swarms off the parent colony at the same time? last year I didn't wait for queen cells to appear before taking artificial swarms but took them when the bees were on 8/9 frames (on 3rd June)

    Steven

  4. #14
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    In general, yes, that could be a way forward and is something I've done many times.

    Most beekeepers would recommend waiting until the bees start cells rather than forcing emergency cells as you did. A June colony with 8-9 frames isn't really in a state for swarming - and they might not have the nutrition to raise really high quality queens and if it was doing that a simple artificial swarm would be best. I would only split off a nuc if the parent colony was quite a bit stronger.

    A nuc with three frames *can* build up over summer, but if you are operating in one apiary then you risk losing flying bees back to the parent colony and the nuc will be very slow to build up. Try to keep them bigger and a colony on 8-9 frames doesn;t sound big enough to stand splitting and taking a small nuc.

    This spring I'm hoping that 3-4 of my stronger ones will be near filling their boxes in April at which point I may give them a second brood box which they will probably fill while the (neonic-treated) oilseed rape flowers. I may use those bees (up to 24 frames given that I can squeeze 12 Hoffman frames in my boxes) in different ways - but splitting will be part of that, using natural queen cells or queen cells 'gently' encouraged via a Demaree, or grafted queen cells.

  5. #15
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    I work in one apiary and make up several nucs in a season, often as many as 25. I deal with this location issue by the very old fashioned and simple method of stuffing the entrance with grass. When it wilts enough they can get out and if they have not achieved this by my next visit, usually every other day in summer for various reasons, then I let them out. KISS

    It is not an issue.

    PH

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