Is Clipping Queens Good Practice?

[prakel]

I'll put my cards on the table to begin with.

I clip queens, usually at the start of the season although that's more to do with just trying to catch up rather than any real concern about inducing supercedure by clipping too early in the queens life which is something I've seen mentioned many times.

But, like all of my beekeeping, clipping is under review (over the last few years I've been taking a close look at a lot of what I do and don't worry in the least if it means changing previously strongly held opinions -if it works better than what I was doing previously).

Recently there's been a lot of talk about the pros and cons of clipping which has got me thinking about the subject again so I thought that it might be interesting to see what the general consensus here is. I've kept the poll private in the hope that those who presently choose not to post will be happy to get involved. It would of course be interesting to learn of people's reasons for their choice, or general thoughts on the subject.

To start the ball rolling here's a 'for and against' article from the Bee Craft archives.

[Black Comb]

By coincidence there is a current thread in another place, with pics.
I thought esteemed member on here MBC made a good argument for.

[drumgerry]

I don't object to it per se but it's not something I do much of. I try to stay on top of my colonies and their swarming preps and I feel that's sufficient. Maybe once every few years I get caught out and lose a swarm but I can accept that. Perhaps if I had hundreds of colonies I might feel differently.

I might clip a queen's wing if I'm setting a beginner up with bees and in fact I did so just last week. That way if they miss a QC and they swarm all is not lost.

I don't have a moral objection to it as some, dare I say it new-agey type, beekeepers seem to.

[prakel]

I don't object to it per se but it's not something I do much of. I try to stay on top of my colonies and their swarming preps and I feel that's sufficient. Maybe once every few years I get caught out and lose a swarm but I can accept that. Perhaps if I had hundreds of colonies I might feel differently.

Thinking along similar lines is what's made me question the whole thing again. Interestingly there are a few bee farmers who don't, the minority no doubt but they're certainly out there. I used to know a beefarmer in Wilts who'd ran 800 colonies as a younger man without clipping, likewise Ged Marshall does a talk (I've not heard it personally) on his swarm management system which, again, doesn't involve clipping.

[Trog]

We've never clipped our queens, mostly because in the early days with only two colonies, we couldn't afford to risk damaging a queen. When we moved here, where replacement queens were unobtainable, we carried on not clipping. We've lost maybe 3 swarms in 22 years. Mostly we either see them starting and follow them (usually not far round the garden) or see them in a hedge near the apiary (there are more than enough indications something's about to go off, eg hearing a bee buzzing in the kitchen chimney, seeing investigating bees around the windows and roof, etc - which prompts us to wander over to the apiary to take a look). We don't mark queens either, partly for the same reason, and partly because ours are quite friendly/vain and like to be admired on the comb!

[Little_John]

I don't clip. My reasons (as if anyone cares ... ) are:

1) it's yet one more unnecessary job.

2) for me, it would be an admission of beekeeping incompetence. It also has the smell of 'control-freakery' about it.

3) if I can't be arsed to keep my bees from swarming, then let 'em take their chances elsewhere, and - maybe - let somebody I don't know and will never meet catch and hive them as a gift from someone they will never meet.
Have you never caught someone-else's swarm ? Why only 'take' ... why not 'give' once in a while ?

4) what's the big deal anyway ? Lose a colony, make a colony - "swings and roundabouts", an' all that.


I'm sure I'd feel differently if I had 'breeder-quality' queens, but then I'd probably use magnetic disks, rather than clip.

[fatshark]

I didn't used to but do now. Some of my colonies are near private gardens or other areas I'd prefer not to have to go chasing swarms in. I consider it good neighbourly behaviour not to impose on others. Of course, I try and prevent swarming - I missed two last year, one clipped the other not. I got them both back.

As an aside, the unclipped queen swarm was easier to recapture. Shoulder height, clear underneath, one tap and boxed. In contrast the clipped queen crawled under a triple hive stand and was the devils own job to get back!

[Jon]

I clip all my queens but I manage the colonies as if they were not clipped in terms of swarm control, ie I do weekly checks, fortnightly at worst, and take appropriate action if I find charged queen cells. I see the clipping as insurance. I always have spare queens over the summer so I can handle losing a clipped queen as opposed to 20,000 bees.
I rarely lose a swarm unless I have to be away unavoidably for 3 weeks over the summer.

[prakel]

I clip all my queens but I manage the colonies as if they were not clipped in terms of swarm control, ie I do weekly checks, fortnightly at worst, and take appropriate action if I find charged queen cells. I see the clipping as insurance. I always have spare queens over the summer so I can handle losing a clipped queen as opposed to 20,000 bees.
I rarely lose a swarm unless I have to be away unavoidably for 3 weeks over the summer.

Much the same here at present -there's a huge difference in the mindset of using clipping as a first line of defence or as 'insurance'.

[Rosie]

I clip all mine. I used to just do the odd queen to keep my "hand in" but about 4 years ago I realised that my oldest queen happened to be a clipped one and wondered if the clipping had something to do with it. I subsequently started clipping half my queens in order to make up my own mind about the pros and cons. Then I was called to a swarm in the village which had settled in someone's cavity wall. Although I don't think I had lost a swarm I am capable of losing the odd one so I abandoned my test and started clipping everything. Since then I have hardly lost any although, like Jon, I still try to inspect weekly.