Hi
I'm looking for suggestions for a good book on the subject of queen rearing.
I've been beekeeping for 4 years, I went from my original nuc in 2009 up to two colonies in 2011, last year I had to move my apiary site in January, however the bees seemed to settle in fine, I split both colonies last year one of the artificial swarms was unsuccessful (I think the queeen didn't return from mating flight) whilst the other artificial swarm prospered.
Mistake number 1: instead of uniting this back into the parent colony in order to replace my ageing original queen I sold it to a beginner
Mistake number 2: I assumed that my younger colony having survived one winter would get through another
Mistake number 3: I assumed that as my old queen had been prolific right through the summer she would get me into the start of this season allowing me to replace her at the ripe old age of four
The reality is I have lost my younger colony completely and I am increasingly convinced my old queen is a drone layer!
Assuming I manage to get some more bees this summer I don't want to get myself into this position again (as far as possible) hence I would like to learn more about queen rearing in a bid to always have a back up and have a more proactive approach to this.
Thanks in advance
Steven
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