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Thread: Mating 2015

  1. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    I have never had great success trying to requeen a full colony with a virgin queen. I generally use a mated queen in an introduction cage and rarely lose one via that method.
    Jon,
    It sounds as if this is what I unsuccessfully tried to do. I have a nuc with a laying Q derived from the Q I got from you last year and could try introducing her to one of my Q-less full hives - but am reluctant to do this without the certainty of knowing that there is not already a resident Q.
    Alan.

  2. #22
    Administrator gavin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by fatshark View Post
    Useful map … what's happening with that little bit around Applecross that appears to have been less cold than pretty much anywhere else on the West coast?
    The guy in Applecross with the mini-met station in his back garden was trying out his new patio heater that month as well as the usual midgie eater that also uses bottled gas.

  3. #23

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    Quote Originally Posted by alancooper View Post
    Jon,
    It sounds as if this is what I unsuccessfully tried to do. I have a nuc with a laying Q derived from the Q I got from you last year and could try introducing her to one of my Q-less full hives - but am reluctant to do this without the certainty of knowing that there is not already a resident Q.
    Alan.
    Alan I would try another test frame to see if they raise queen cells
    If they don't then putting a queen in will be a very risky proposition (I think)

  4. #24

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    I have never had great success trying to requeen a full colony with a virgin queen. I generally use a mated queen in an introduction cage and rarely lose one via that method.
    Its a high risk strategy and no mistake
    Just hatched with no hive smell (incubator ?)best if the colony is expecting a queen cell to hatch at the time

  5. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by gavin View Post
    The guy in Applecross with the mini-met station in his back garden was trying out his new patio heater that month as well as the usual midgie eater that also uses bottled gas.
    Gavin best put the whisky away now


    How many queens from different sources are you using in the mating program Gavin?
    Last edited by The Drone Ranger; 21-07-2015 at 11:39 PM.

  6. #26

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    Quote Originally Posted by The Drone Ranger View Post
    Alan I would try another test frame to see if they raise queen cells
    If they don't then putting a queen in will be a very risky proposition (I think)
    Yes - another frame of eggs seems wiser. I will do this. Thanks.

  7. #27

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    Quote Originally Posted by alancooper View Post
    The "feel" of the hives, however, is that they are queen-less. Is this familiar to anyone? have I missed something? What are my options?
    Most of my new Qs never start laying to the schedule in the books and generally its 3-4 weeks after emergence before I see eggs. These Qs are usually raised in vertical splits over a Snelgrove board or in poly-nucs in fairly strong colonies. Problem is that time is lost so I still worry about them. I get optimistic when 1. I see pollen going in AND 2. There are polished cells being kept ready for laying. I relax when 3. there are one or more patches of royal jelly being stored ready for use.

    If the colony is not working up a new Q from a frame of eggs then that suggests they are waiting. If you can get a spare Q-cell from someone you could pop that in and see what happens. I guess it would be destroyed or left.

    My success rate this year is running at about 2/3. I've staggered rearing over a couple of weeks in early June so as not to have everything dependent on a short weather window. And currently waiting to see outcome of a couple more, but these could not have been timed worse with the dreadful weather last week.

  8. #28

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    The weather in Coventry can be very different to here in the Alne Hills - very much warmer in the towns and cities.
    But mating is not just about temperature. We need good weather the previous autumn to set colonies up for the winter. Then we need good weather for colonies to develop well in the spring and produce well-nurtured drones. After that we need the sort of weather that encourages drones to fly (without the exercise they will be useless for mating). Then finally, we need the right weather for queens and drones to fly and mate - not necessarily hot weather, but high winds and/or rain and/or low temperatures will not result in good mating.
    But you knew all that already...
    Peter Edwards

  9. #29

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    Hi Feckless
    I had 20 queen cells on a frame due to hatch on the 11 July
    We had friends coming to visit and the timing overlapped so I put hair rollers on early
    Bit too early I think because not one hatched --- big hole in queen rearing plan

    The snelgroves are a bit more flexible because if you don't get a queen above the board you can bring larva up from below and have another go without much effort
    The new queens hatching are all staggered so the weather risk is a bit less problematic

    I like the grafting and cupkit queen rearing as well but in my case it can go pear shaped just when I decide I have it sorted

    I think your advice to Allan will be right they are sometimes a bit slow to get laying
    Have you found sometimes an extra long wait heralds a drone layer ?

  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by Peter View Post
    But you knew all that already...
    You say that Peter, but until its all condensed down so well, I have to admit I hadn't considered half of your key points
    Recently I also heard that pollen availability and quality while the drones are being raised affects their fertility
    Don't know if that's right but it sounds sensible

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