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  • Queen breeding specialism discussion forum.
Queen breeding specialism discussion forum.
 #6487  by stechad
 16 Apr 2020, 18:55
Hi all,
What are the indications as to when to start queen rearing, apart from our wonderful weather?

I have succesfully grafted and reared queens a couple of years back but this was in midsummer and more of an experiment to see if I could get it right, I would like to have a proper go at rearing queens to increase my stock and queen quality etc.
 #6493  by NigelP
 16 Apr 2020, 19:56
Drones is your simple answer. If your hives don't have drones then any queen rearing is likely doomed as any other hives in your area are unlikely to have drones either (and it is those drones with whom your queens usually mate with). . Worth remembering that drones take about 18 days from emerging to being mature enough to mate...call it 3 weeks to be on the safe side.
Different parts of the country are all on different time schedules....unusual for North Yorkshire we have a lot drones in mid-april which is not normal....so I'm pressing ahead, with some supersedure cells....but know chances will be better later in May and onwards.
Oh and factor in weather conditions shortly after the virgins emerge.....
 #6495  by stechad
 16 Apr 2020, 20:00
Thanks for the reply Nigel

Makes sense, I have some sealed drone but not seen any flying in my area (south Manchester/Cheshire border.
Probably give it another week or so
 #6496  by Patrick
 16 Apr 2020, 20:04
Good on you for giving it a go stechad, nothing to lose and plenty to gain even if it is to discover what does or doesn’t work for you.

I work on the principle there is no point in rearing queens when there are no drones to mate them at the end of the process and when I am around to do things. So when I am seeing drones appearing it is reasonable to assume there should be plenty two to three weeks hence.

Round here in Somerset that means I will start preparing things this weekend and hopefully have some cells emerging first week May.

I see you are in the Northwest so others more local to you on here can give you a more specific steer - I suspect they may say you’ve got a couple or so weeks in hand yet.
 #6500  by Patrick
 16 Apr 2020, 20:17
Under the Queen Rearing part of the forum you will see a queen rearing timetable thread giving “Toms Table” which is a live spreadsheet you can use to give indicative dates for various parts of the process. It’s not set in stone but is a useful framework to flag up when you may need to be around.
 #6502  by Chrisbarlow
 16 Apr 2020, 21:06
Good question indeed. In Leeds I usually start grafting start of may however a couple of friends have picked up swarms yesterday so the bees must they can get queens mated

I agree with Nigel about drones and indeed I've seen many drones in colonies so I think next week I am gonna have a go at some cell raising.
 #6504  by stechad
 16 Apr 2020, 21:16
Thanks https://www.bbkaforum.co.uk/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=50
Not sure if it's the same one but I have a spreadsheet that calculates the dates when things need to be done calculated from the grafting date.
Very handy and recommended for folk like me that tend to forget minor stuff like when to remove the queen cells, Doh
 #6506  by stechad
 16 Apr 2020, 21:22
Here's a link to the spreadsheet I use
https://ninfield.eu/owncloud/s/Zz0RRBwFtnsyhBI
 #6698  by AdamD
 25 Apr 2020, 09:26
I have started queenrearing this year - but the first attempt was not sucessfull. The colony had been queenless for 3 days and had not really gotten going with producing emergency queencells and it being fairly early in the season they gave me just one queencell from some grafts I had put in. The bees just weren't ready. You then doubt whether you have done something wrong - did the tiny larvae get cold, for example? as I took larvae from my home apiary and had to drive them to my out apiary. Not far but maybe too far? However a few days later I transferred more larvae to cups and popped them in, of which 75% have been accepted which is good enough.