Q rearing by numbers

[Mellifera Crofter]

...the deeper (than mini-plus) frames allow the bees to organize themselves really well for the months ahead.

Are they half National brood frames, Prakel? Sorry if I'm asking you to repeat information if you've already told us.

Kitta

[prakel]

MC, they're based on the mini plus frame -same 10" top bar but are three inches deeper. We chose the top bar length so that we could maintain some level of compatibility with our existing mp kit. The mp combs tend to get get laid out to the top bar by a young queen while these deeper ones usually have an inch of honey at the top. The original idea came after needing to feed mp's in an August dearth a few years ago (that inch of honey makes a lot of difference). A knock on benefit has been that they've proven excellent for wintering on a single box too (remembering that they're only OSB3 with a slab of kingspan on top instead of a fancy roof).

edit:

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example of the poly roofs (these are bs nucs).

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OSB3 box, mid March. Showing mini-plus frames mixed with our deeper ones; we just let them build comb from the bottom bars of the shorter frames. Only five frames for winter, summer we can fit 6 to a box, it's slightly tight but keeps the combs nice. This time of year when the last ones are being started we reduce to 5 so that the honey arc can be built out. Again, good for wintering but I'm giving far too much away now!

[Mellifera Crofter]

Thanks prakel - interesting - also your aquatic beekeeping!
Kitta

[prakel]

also your aquatic beekeeping!

That site is presently being quarried out (they do say that the locals love their island so much that they can't stop sending bits of it around the world!). We've now set up a site a couple of hundred yards away -much nicer actually.

[The Drone Ranger]

Damp can contribute to chalk brood I am told
they look like very decorative stepping stones

[Greengage]

Thats are really interesting site Icko. tks

[The Drone Ranger]

It is Greengage especially if you click on French Flag at the top That gets the info in French
then choose the UK flag only to get a cut down version of the French presumably meant to be a translation
The Rossetta Stone would be handy

[SDM]

Thats are really interesting site Icko. tks

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

[Kate Atchley]

Catching up with our Amm rearing in Ardnamurchan: the new queens from Colonsay are all laying and/so I didn't miss any Q cells started in the nucs which were made up 2 days ahead! AND 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?

[Jon]

They should be ok Kate. The bees often build brace comb around the cells in the cell bar. I cut away as much as I can then push the roller carefully over the cell. The cells look rough but the queen usually emerges in the normal way.