Q rearing by numbers

[prakel]

we finally have a good crop of queen cells after grafting and copious feeding of two queenless colonies. Seems I hadn't been feeding enough earlier, with the bees almost "running on empty" this year.

NOW the cells are incubating but 1/3 of them were cut out of brace comb built between them. I was careful not to cut too close so the pupae are fully covered with wax but the cells are not well finished in the usual way ... thin in places. Are they likely to be okay or damaged by their earlier entombment in wax?

A knock-on from the feeding perhaps? It's a fine balance. Sometimes see cells which look like they could be better when they're built during a heavy flow. Seems counterintuitive but it happens. Why? Maybe (speculation here) the cell building workforce are busy elsewhere and the job gets passed to others who perhaps are in too much of a rush?

Dr Jurica suggested adding a shaker jar as part of rearing yard gear and just sprinkling some syrup over the topbars each time the cell builder/finisher is opened. Pellett recommended much the same thing:

About ten or twelve hours later the bees will be in the mood to build queen cells. Being without brood, the nurse bees will be abundantly supplied with food for the larvae, and will accept a batch of prepared cells very eagerly.

When giving the cells, it is well to follow the practice of some of the most extensive breeders and feed liberally at the moment, to insure a larger portion of cells accepted. For this purpose an ordinary garden sprinkler serves very well. Thin sugar syrup is sprinkled freely over the tops of the frames as described previously. The bees gorge themselves in cleaning up the syrup and anxiously seek larvae to be fed. This method of feeding is desirable at the time of giving cells by any method.

Pellett. 'Practical Queen Rearing' 1918.

As Jon says, will probably come good.

[The Drone Ranger]

What site is this ? French is my fav. language. I'll tell you if there's any difference.

http://www.icko-apiculture.com/en/ca...sult/?q=oxalic

[The Drone Ranger]

A knock-on from the feeding perhaps? It's a fine balance. Sometimes see cells which look like they could be better when they're built during a heavy flow. Seems counterintuitive but it happens. Why? Maybe (speculation here) the cell building workforce are busy elsewhere and the job gets passed to others who perhaps are in too much of a rush?

Dr Jurica suggested adding a shaker jar as part of rearing yard gear and just sprinkling some syrup over the topbars each time the cell builder/finisher is opened. Pellett recommended much the same thing:



As Jon says, will probably come good.

Hi Prakel
The feeding is probably just over the cell bar
I find its best to give young wax makers something to keep them busy
So another nearby frame with 3 strands of 60lb fishing line where they can build free comb
It's a good sign to have bees in a wax making frame of mind, I think, when raising cells but it can result in cells from Zorg syndrome
Thanks for the Pellet tip

[Kate Atchley]

Thanks for speedy responses ... encouraging ones too! Off to fill mating nucs this afternoon.

Yes, there was a slow feeder right above the cell bars. Best to put it to one side perhaps, and will add a frame-to-be-drawn too next time. I fed the two colonies the same way but only one surrounded cells in wax ... the stronger one.

[prakel]

Another quote, not really specific to the current posts but it ties in quite well as an extra:

Colonies will not rear queens with large thoraxes and long abdomens during a major honey flow. The bees seem rto go crazy and only want to collect nectar. If this is the case, move the cell-building colony 10 to 20 feet and place a dummy in it's place with a frame of brood, a queen and empty combs. If the honey flowlasts a long time you may have to repeat the procedure every ten days to 2 weeks.

Steve Taber: 'Breeding Super Bees' 1987

[SDM]

For anyone considering a last run of grafts. My forecast for September is looking very favourable a good 20 days with very little wind, <5kts and lots of sunshine. It looks set to be the best weather this season.

[prakel]

For anyone considering a last run of grafts. My forecast for September is looking very favourable a good 20 days with very little wind, <5kts and lots of sunshine. It looks set to be the best weather this season.

It's normally a very good month for getting queens done, here too. Of course, the important thing is to know what to do with them....

After making sure that they mate from a robust environment to begin with I try to rear extra resources for adding to their colonies once they're mated. But no doubt a lot of people will do it the other way and introduce the young queen to a larger unit.

[Jon]

And there will be demand for queens in September once a load disappear during MAQS treatment!

I have had a lot of queens mate and start to lay in the past week. I intend to graft for another couple of weeks. Nothing ventured and all that....

[prakel]

I have had a lot of queens mate and start to lay in the past week. I intend to graft for another couple of weeks. Nothing ventured and all that....

We're having our best results of the season at present -at least, with regards to commencement of laying after emergence. We discussed this earlier in the season, at present I'm seeing an average of ten days (from mini-plus and 4comb bs deeps alike) with the quickest being no more than eight days. Only time will tell if the matings are a true success.

[The Drone Ranger]

And there will be demand for queens in September once a load disappear during MAQS treatment!

I have had a lot of queens mate and start to lay in the past week. I intend to graft for another couple of weeks. Nothing ventured and all that....

Or ones that haven't 👎but just stopped laying for a while 🙊