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Thread: Nuc as a cell raiser question

  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by mbc View Post
    I've read prosperity and weather are critical to success and I disagree. Use a strong queenless cell starter amply fed for a while before hand and during cell raising and it matters not a hoot what conditions are outside the hive, give them everything they need inside the hive!
    (Maybe it is easier when conditions are ideal, my point is that you can still achieve near optimal queen rearing conditions inside the hive by adding pollen and syrup liberally and confound natures attempts to thwart us)
    That is true. But locally I found bees in mini nucs combined with bad weather (and I mean cold, wet windy and occasional frosts) make queen emergence sometimes risky if you have few bees i.e a mini nuc as opposed to a 5 frame nuc - and queen mating very risky. But you could argue the latter is a permanent risk. My experiences are that starting raising before May is locally a big gamble and usually a waste of time . But on the other hand starting early means the beekeeper has a chance to relearn skills not used for a year..and which may be rusty...

    I usually start last week April and expect to fail - and am not disappointed :-(

  2. #22

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    Quote Originally Posted by Poly Hive View Post
    MAF? I use varifocals but asked the ASDA optician to make grafting glasses for me. They were intrigued and novelty for them is pretty rare I suppose and the end result is excellent for a mere £40.

    PH
    That's a good idea, I'm okay at the moment with my reading glasses. A headlamp made the World of difference and a timing box so I don't have to hunt for the larva.

  3. #23
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    Worth looking at Dentists Loupes. I have a 2.5X with a light very similar to the picture below. Use it for all sorts of things. There are higher mags, but the focal distance on the 2.5x is just about right for picking out larva etc and the light is excellent....around £50 on fleabay.
    s-l1600.jpg

  4. #24
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    Well mbc you and I will have to disagree but my experience over the years is that good weather and good success go hand in hand and rain and cold = failure.

    PH

  5. #25
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    I've always taken the view that even in a poor season I can keep myself and my bees productive by cracking on with queen raising, granted not as productive or successful as in a good season and granted, open mating is in the lap of the gods but progress can still be made.

  6. #26
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    Might not your different geographical locations and strains of bees used have more bearing on your respective queen rearing success than the weather? I understand it rains in Wales all the time

  7. #27
    Senior Member busybeephilip's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Thymallus View Post
    Worth looking at Dentists Loupes. I have a 2.5X with a light very similar to the picture below. Use it for all sorts of things. There are higher mags, but the focal distance on the 2.5x is just about right for picking out larva etc and the light is excellent....around £50 on fleabay.
    s-l1600.jpg
    For grafting.... I am short sighted so i simply remove my varifocals and can see up close perfectly for grafting with no magnification needed

  8. #28

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    I was thinking about starting to graft mid May but folks locally tell me they start end of April - I wonder were people here start?

  9. #29
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    End April

  10. #30
    Senior Member fatshark's Avatar
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    Weather-dependent ... in time so emerged virgins have access to mature drones. In previous years (not Scotland) I've done it successfully from the first week of April until mid/late September. Up here it's a much narrower window every year

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