The strength of any bee colony largely depends on the queen's ability to fertilize quickly and efficiently. After all, this is what ensures the availability of labor, as well as the presence of the required number of drones.
It is believed that a queen bee can worm for 8 years, but it is also generally known that she is most effective in the first two years. Some experienced beekeepers rely entirely on bees in this matter, leaving the family to carry out the queen change itself. However, for those who want to increase the efficiency of their apiary, it is worth paying maximum attention to this issue. After all, even a current-year-old queen almost always (90%) carries out better seeding compared to an overwintered one, and even more so with an older individual.
Important! In addition to increased efficiency, a young queen prevents many problems that may arise for the beekeeper during the development of the family:
- Possibility of swarming;
- Disturbance of the balance between open and printed brood;
- The need for frequent expansion of the nest or the formation of anti-swarm layers.
The main condition for breeding good queens is the presence of a rich bribe. This will provide a sufficient amount of high-quality food for growing larvae. If the weather is bad and there is not enough food, the queens will be lightweight, with a reduced number of egg-laying tubes, and, accordingly, lower productivity.
That's why best period for work of this type - spring and summer (until the middle). An exception may be the southern regions, where honey production is abundant even in autumn. For central Russia, the signal for the start of queen hatching is the flowering of the first honey plants, as well as warm sunny weather.
Important! However, for the queen to start worming, drones are needed. Their development in the cell lasts 21 days and another 10 days. required for puberty. For the uterus this period is about 20 days. Provided that one-day-old larvae were taken for hatching. Therefore, with the appearance of drone brood, preparations begin for the hatching of the queens, and after about two weeks the queen cell is laid.
A queen cell is a honeycomb cell, specially built or enlarged in size for the hatching of the queen bee. Under natural conditions, bees lay queen cells in the presence of one of the changes in the life of the bee colony:
- In anticipation of swarming;
- If the queen bee dies, wears out or becomes ill (this is how fistulous queens are removed).
Swarming queen cells are larger in size and hang from the comb like an elongated acorn. For fistulas, they simply expand the usual cell cell; they are smaller. It is easy to distinguish a queen cell from a regular honeycomb by its elongated dimensions - its length can reach 2.4 cm.
The swarm queen is the queen of the bee colony, followed by half of the swarm. It is highly productive and more valuable. The fistulous uterus is slightly smaller in size and, compared to the swarming one, is not as productive.
Queen cells also differ in color - swarm cells are darker, since their construction is carried out by individuals at least 25 days old. Having wax glands that are no longer as active, they take used beeswax for construction. Whereas fistula queen cells are completed on finished combs with new wax.
Important! When found queen cells, the beekeeper releases the swarm, and then cuts out the queen cells for layering, leaving one in the colony. When transferring, extreme care should be taken: cut out together with a piece of honeycomb, avoid shaking, changing t, or turning over. You can tell that the uterus has come out and everything is fine by the nibbled, even hole at the lower end. If there is a hole in the side of the cocoon, this means that the queen was killed by bees or there is already a queen in the hive who destroyed her rival.
To initiate the independent establishment of queen cells, beekeepers use simple methods:
- Swarming. The process can be provoked artificially by increasing the number of working individuals. To do this, 3 frames with brood are placed in the colony, the entrance is closed and 3 frames without brood are removed. Thus, the number of young individuals increases sharply, and the family is divided. The queen flies off with the swarm, and the bees, left without a queen, are forced to raise a queen for themselves. However, in such a scenario, it is difficult to predict the timing of its withdrawal;
- Fistula queen bees. In this case, the queen, along with the brood and several frames of bees, is transferred to another hive (about half) next to the old one. The frame on which the queen was sitting is returned to the old hive. A window measuring 10-15 cm (length) by 4-5 cm (width) is cut out below the 1-2 day old larvae. Here, the bees left without a queen lay fistulous queen cells. Every third larva is removed because the queen bowls are larger. The beekeeper's task is to ensure that the larvae for the queen cells are immature (optimally - 1 day). Mature larvae are not suitable for hatching queens and must be destroyed.
Important! To obtain high-quality young queen bees, only developed, numerous colonies are used. Natural reproduction is also achieved in the presence of the queen bee through a barrier lattice. In this case, the family behaves calmly, and from 5-6 fistulous queen cells, the largest individual is selected, since size is a sign of productivity.
To artificially obtain queen bees, several methods are used, the simplest and most accessible of which are the following:
- A family with good quality indicators is selected and a frame with eggs and young brood is taken from it. A small hole (3 by 4 cm) is cut in the upper third of the combs, and the lower edges of the cells are removed. Only 2 larvae are left in the row. The frame prepared in this way is placed inside the hive, where the queen is absent, and after a few days they check how the bees are rebuilding the queen cells. Some beekeepers do not make holes, but simply place frames with larvae, citing the fact that the bees will better choose the larvae suitable for the queens;
- To simultaneously obtain 5-6 queens at once, the queen is transferred to a two-frame insulator, consisting of egg frames and already mature brood. It is covered with frames on top so that the queen remains inside. The structure is placed in the hive, and on the 4th day a nucleus is formed: brood from the insulator, a frame with honey and dry food. The queen and worker bees from 2-3 frames are also placed here. A frame with new larvae laid by the queen is prepared in a separate room: the lower border of the comb is cut off at the place where the larvae begin. After this, she is placed back in the hive;
- Another way to obtain a large number of queens at the same time is to use artificial grafting frames on which up to 30 bowls cast from wax are placed. This conclusion queen bees is well described in the video from the very beginning to the placement of the young queens in their new families. In this case, the larvae are transplanted from the honeycombs into artificially made bowls. Some beekeepers attach cut pieces of honeycomb with 1-day-old larvae to the grafting frame. With this option, beekeepers avoid damaging the larvae during transplantation.
Important! When the queens are preparing to emerge from their cell, the queen cells are cut out, selecting the best of them, and each is placed in a separate cell until the queen emerges. Large plastic syringes with holes for ventilation are used for the cage. A little food is added to the cages. This is done so that when the uterus emerges early, it does not die of starvation.
To successfully carry out work on obtaining productive queens, you should follow the recommendations of experienced beekeepers.
What not to do:
- Breed queens without pure breeding material;
- Shake honeycombs with larvae or queen cells;
- Allow royal jelly to dry out during grafting;
- Do inbreeding;
- Carry out work in the absence of optimal temperature and humidity (+28 +30˚С and 80-90%).
- For grafting, use binocular glasses, a diode flashlight, and also a “Chinese” - a special spatula that captures royal jelly along with the larva;
- To obtain large eggs, place the queen in an insulator;
- Select larvae for grafting from the middle of the comb and of approximately the same size;
- About 30% of queen cells are discarded, so to obtain the required amount, take this fact into account when planting;
- Discard small, crooked, overstretched queen cells;
- Feed the caring families with protein food.
Important! The most productive queens are obtained by selection on one breed of bees. In this case, there is a guarantee of hereditary transmission of characteristics. Interbreeding does not have such prospects.
Breeding queen bees on your own does not present any particular difficulties if you have large purebred families and suitable conditions. However, it requires some experience and knowledge, as well as increased care when performing each stage of work.
Hatching queens for a novice beekeeper - video
One of the tasks for beginning beekeepers is to increase the number of families. In order not to spend part of your still small profit on purchasing bee packages, you need to master the independent breeding of queen bees, obtaining information from more experienced comrades in the craft or watching thematic videos. Also, this skill will help in time to replace a low-quality queen of a bee colony - common reason insufficient harvest and even death of honey insects.
Where to begin?
Any practical lesson starts with studying theoretical foundations. Self-breeding queen bees is no exception. What you need to know:
- The functions of the uterus and its difference from other insects in the hive.
- Queen development period, stages of development from egg to mature insect.
- Optimal conditions for the successful implementation of your plans.
- Rules that must be followed to breed a new queen bee.
The task of the queen bee in the hive is to maintain and develop the family, due to the constant replenishment of working individuals, who constantly die from age and wear and tear. The queen consistently lays eggs, from which representatives of the bee colony develop. The queen differs from ordinary insects in the hive in its large size and elongated abdomen, thanks to which it is not difficult to find it on the frame.
Under suitable conditions (temperature, humidity), the process of maturation of a new uterus does not exceed 12 days. This is the period from the laying of an egg until the emergence of an individual capable of mating flight with drones. If conditions are not optimal, the ripening period may become longer. Between the stages of egg and imago (mature individual), any bee, including the queen, goes through the larval phase, then the pupa.
The optimal time for breeding a high-quality queen bee is May or early June. During this period, weather conditions are best suited for maintaining a favorable microclimate in the hive.
Rules for breeding queen bees, the observance of which is mandatory for the success of the event:
- Well-wintered, strong bee colonies are selected for work, preferably those that are highly productive during honey collection;
- it is necessary to create full-fledged maternal (raising queens) and drone (seed) families;
- a queen cell is made after the drone honeycomb is completely sealed, so the queen will mature at the same time as the males (drones develop to the adult stage several days longer);
- the timing of the queen bee's hatching is taken into account, checking with specialized calendars, drawing useful information from videos and articles on relevant topics.
How to remove queen bees?
To successfully breed queen bees, just watching a video on the topic will not be enough. It is necessary to take into account the region, the characteristics of honey collection in a given area, the climate, the characteristics of the apiary and the breed of honey-bearing insects. It would be helpful to know the standard stages of breeding queen bees at home:
- near the open brood, in a family selected for breeding purposes, a frame is placed, the combs in which are light brown in color;
- constant high-grade feeding (honey, beebread) is necessary;
- in order not to miss the moment of sowing the eggs, the frame is checked daily;
- with the beginning of the formation of larvae, layering is done - two brood frames and part of the worker bees;
- At the top of the frame with brood cells, a horizontal slit about 5 cm high is made and bee embryos are thinned out along the entire row, leaving one out of three larvae;
- from the abandoned larvae, insects independently form queen cells;
- approximately on the 10th day, the formed queen cells are cut out, after which they are placed in layers or placed between brood frames (depending on the goals);
- the previously removed queen, along with workers and brood, is returned to the “native” bee colony.
These are universal stages of properly raising a new uterus, although there are many original techniques, allowing you to get new queen bees.
Withdrawal methods
Beekeepers have posted a lot of videos about various methods obtaining new queens. All proposed methods are usually already known, but each beekeeper brings his own experience to the methods. In beekeeping, queens are hatched using various methods of stimulating this process, but all known methods are divided into natural and forced (artificial).
The easiest methods are natural methods, when the development of a new queen bee is initiated by worker bees under the influence of certain factors. Artificial methods are considered less simple, since intervention is necessary natural processes, occurring in the hive, on the part of the beekeeper, the use of additional devices and constant monitoring of the progress of the process. Various clever moves are used, including raising queens in an incubator. Let's consider the main natural and forced methods, descriptions of which are more often found in beekeeping videos.
Natural Methods
The simplest and in a natural way breeding of queen bees is stimulation of swarming. To do this, 3 frames with embedded brood are delivered to the hive, and the same number of frames without larvae are taken from the bee colony. This forces the worker insects to start forming queen cells. The technique is simple, but is used less and less due to imperfection. The disadvantages are the inability to reliably predict the behavior of the bee colony, as well as the number of queen cells laid and the quality of the queens at the exit. There is also a risk of “missing” the emergence of the newly emerged queen, which is fraught with the departure of the swarm and the weakening of the family.
The ability of honey insects to urgently reproduce a dead queen is used by beekeepers to breed a new owner of the hive. The existing queen is taken from a strong bee colony and placed in another hive along with part of the bees and brood, forming a layer. The bees left without the “head of the family” immediately begin laying the queen cell. Beekeepers call these queen bees fistula bees, they are slightly smaller in size and not as fertile, but there are many ways to improve these properties.
For a simple and accessible method for breeding queen bees, even for novice beekeepers, see the following video:
Artificial withdrawal
The forced production of new queens makes it possible to obtain high-quality biomaterial, while controlling the process at all its stages. Let's look at a simple and quick way to artificially hatch queen bees. A frame with fresh brood is taken from a strong honey bee colony and a rectangle 3 cm high and 4 cm wide is cut into it on top. The cells located below the hole are cut off, removing the brood. They leave 2-3 honeycombs with young larvae, after which they place the frame in a family that does not have its own queen. On approximately the third day, the working insects begin laying queen cells. Despite the fact that the method is considered emergency, the quality of the resulting queen is satisfactory in all respects, and the process occurs without the transfer of larvae.
Another technique involves making a special insulator in which two frames are placed. One of them is with brood, the other is with empty combs for laying eggs. The queen bee is placed in the structure and the top is closed so that the queen bee cannot get out. The insulator is placed back into the hive. On the fourth day, a nucleus is constructed, consisting of honey and brood frames with embedded larvae. The queen and some of the worker bees from the hive are also placed here. The frame with newly laid bee embryos is prepared by cutting along the lower edge of the brood and returned to the previous bee colony.
Hatching queen bees using the Tsibin method, watch this video:
Other methods
Looking through various beekeeping videos, you can find many modified or supplemented proprietary techniques. One of these is the method of breeding queen bees using the Nicot system. The technology allows you to breed several queens at once, and the process is controlled at every stage. The essence of the technique is to transfer the larvae of the future uterus into specially prepared “cells”, which play the role of incubators. The nests are attached to the frame frame and installed in the hive, where conditions are suitable for the development of the larvae. After the development period, “unsuccessful” individuals are discarded, the rest are added to the formed layers.
How to obtain new queen bees using the Kashkovsky method? Watch the video:
Criteria for successful withdrawal
The process of breeding one or several queens, which is not difficult for an experienced beekeeper, can confuse a novice beekeeper, even if he has watched many videos with a visual demonstration. various techniques. Choosing a receiving method new queen for a bee colony play a lesser role in the success of the event than compliance with the rules listed above and understanding the biology of bees and the characteristics of their instincts. It would be a good idea to study the calendar, where chronological order All stages of uterine development are located.
Queen breeding calendar
There are several unique graphs that reflect all stages of development of queen bees. The most reliable, accurately reflecting the maturation process of the queen, looks like this.
There is another, radial version of the “uterine” calendar, which looks like this.
In the second diagram, in addition to the breeding schedule for queen bees, the annual cycle of work in the apiary is clearly displayed, which is clearly useful for a novice beekeeper. To consolidate the theoretical arguments outlined above, the following video is suggested for viewing:
The strength of the bee colony depends on the fertility of the queen. The number and quality of working individuals in the swarm depends on its ability to reproduce quickly. IN good conditions the queen lives 3-6 years. However, already in the second year, its activity begins to subside. There is a need for replacement.
Independent breeding of queen bees is a pressing problem for many beekeepers. Not only the future of the family, but also the entire apiary depends on a well-structured process.
The main criterion for breeding a strong uterus is a good bribe. Strong larvae will grow only on high-quality food. Under unfavorable weather conditions and lack of nutrition, females will emerge small and have low productivity.
The hatching of drones is carried out earlier than the laying of the queen cell. Males stay in the cells for 3 weeks. For full puberty it takes about 10 more days. Therefore, preparations for hatching queens begin only with the appearance of drone brood.
Basic rules for breeding queens
To breed a strong queen, you need to follow certain rules:
- Weed out bee colonies with weak seed material.
- Choose strong, healthy nests with high productivity and winter hardiness.
- Begin the process of breeding queen bees only after sealing the drone brood.
- Create perfect incubation conditions(temperature, humidity).
- Use large larvae.
- Carry out work strictly in accordance with the calendar.
Family choice
For breeding of drones and queens, selection begins with the “parents”. It is from them that young individuals inherit the necessary characteristics.
Main selection criteria:
- high productivity of honey collection for several years;
- winter hardiness;
- uterine fertility;
- disease resistance;
- weak tendency to swarm.
Tribal families are divided into two groups: patrilineal and maternal. Usually, out of three dozen selected bee colonies, the best 2-3 are left for breeding queens. All the remaining ones are used for the production of drones.
Important!
Families selected for breeding should not be related.
Paternal and maternal material must be taken of different origin. A strong swarm is taken from another bee farm. It must be located at least 20 km away.
How to distinguish the uterus
The Queen Bee spends all her time in the hive. She just lays eggs. It leaves the house when it is needed for mating. However, without her there is no family.
The main female of the nest is distinguished by a number of characteristics:
- thickened, long abdomen;
- lack of baskets for collecting pollen;
- no wax mirrors;
- slightly bent sting;
- body length - from 19 to 25 mm;
- weight - from 180 to 300 mg;
- the tips of the wings do not reach the end of the abdomen.
Insects serving the queen feed her only royal jelly. When the time comes to swarm, she is not fed. She feeds herself on honey. Loses weight and takes flight.
Family preparation
To breed new breeding individuals preliminary work It is recommended to start a year in advance. Additionally, they build up the strength of families before wintering and carry out a number of preventive measures:
- checking the quality of beekeeping products;
- preparation of high-quality feed;
- disinfection of hives;
- disease prevention.
They begin breeding queens only in the spring after a complete replacement of overwintered individuals. The family must have at least 4 frames of bee bread and 10 kilograms of honey. A strong swarm usually weighs more than 2.5 kg.
What to do with the queen bee
The queen cell is sealed after laying out after 8 days. A female needs 17 days to develop. A working individual requires 4 days more.
The uterus, having reached maturity, comes out by gnawing the top of the queen cell. She can destroy the remaining cells. In order to obtain a complete hatch of females, the larvae are covered with cells. They are given royal jelly every day. Young insects should not be left in isolation for a long time. They are put into nuclear hives, specially designed for temporary housing of a small family.
Insects are thoroughly checked. If defects are found, they are destroyed.
Important!
If the breeding females are successfully bred, the extra individuals are not disposed of. The required number is used for layering, the rest are sold.
Artificial withdrawal methods
The process of self-production of queens usually does not cause any particular difficulties. However, this requires:
- experience;
- knowledge;
- conditions;
- the presence of purebred families.
Important!
Fertile queens are produced by selection of one species. When crossing different breeds hereditary characteristics are lost.
Emergency removal of uterus
This method is considered one of the simplest. At the very strong family frames with clutch and brood are taken. Upper part The honeycomb is cut out in the form of a hole 4 cm by 3 cm. Only two larvae are left. The prepared trimmed frame is installed in a queenless nest. Insects lay a queen cell within three to four days. When a sufficient number is formed, they are cut off.
Insulator
This method makes it possible to breed up to 10 females. In a strong family, the womb is taken away. She is isolated. Mature brood is also located here.
The structure is covered with frames, blocking the exit of the uterus, and placed back. The nucleus is formed within 3 days.
Fresh brood is cut off along the lower border and placed back in the house. The queen cells are cut out two to three days before ripening. After the young animals emerge, they are placed in cores.
Nicot system
This method of breeding queen bees requires some preparatory work.
Necessary materials:
- cassette (honeycomb with grid and plexiglass lid);
- bowls (up to 100 pieces);
- holders;
- plinths with fastenings for the grafting frame;
- cells.
The work is carried out in several stages:
- The cassette is installed in the central part of the frame in several ways: with dry material, with foundation, or empty (attached to a block).
- A grafting frame is made. Any one will do for this. Can be used with defects.
- The cassette is polished and cleaned by bees. The structure is placed in the hive in advance. No less than one day. The cassette is smeared with honey or sprayed with honey. The bees get used to the new object. During this time, the honeycomb will be saturated with the smell of the nest and warm up to the desired temperature.
- We plant the “queen”. We close the plug. Insects freely pass through the passage between the cassette and the frame to the queen for feeding. The cells are checked every other day. If the queen has laid a clutch, she is released. The frame with the Nicot honeycomb is put back into place. Bowls with one-day-old larvae are placed on a grafting frame.
- A family is being formed. All honeycombs without brood are removed from the hive. Only the frames with beebread remain. The center is left free. Honey reserves are located behind the diaphragm. A week before loading the grafting frame, ceiling feeders are installed. The family is fed syrup with pine infusion. Sometimes cobalt is added. The uterus is deposited within 3 hours. On the fifth day, the family is monitored and all fistulous queen cells are removed.
- Installation of the grafting frame in the prepared place. The bowls must be placed quickly so that the larvae do not have time to cool and dry out.
- Reception of larvae is carried out according to the calendar.
- Culling queen cells is a simple process. Usually they get rid of small, crooked ones, leaving straight and large ones.
- You need to prepare for the selection of young females. All queen cells are placed in cages so that after the first one comes out, they do not lose the rest.
- The emergence of the uterus, control of the reception and subsequent laying of eggs.
Plaque on the queen cell
Scheme of dividing a family by raid: A - divided family; B - joint family
The method is effective when it becomes necessary to eliminate the swarming state of the nest. It is used if the family has established swarm queen cells before selecting the cuttings. It is too late to form layers, but it is possible to return the swarm to working condition. The method of division “by raiding the queen cell” immediately mobilizes the bees to work, and the queen’s egg-laying efficiency is not reduced.
The method has been successfully used in different regions and helps stop swarming. The method is used immediately when the first signs appear.
Output in syringes
This method saves valuable breeding “material” from internecine struggle. Practice has shown that you need to use a 20 ml syringe. The piston should move easily and not jump out. This “equipment” will cost much less than specialized tools.
To make a uterine insulator you will need up to 12 pieces of syringes for each rail, a drill with a drill with a diameter of 2.8 mm. The drilled holes are cleaned with a knife. Plastic bowls are attached inside each tank.
The method is quite convenient and economical. Preserves a large number of queens. Containers are convenient for transporting insects. They provide free access of air.
Hatching in the incubator
5-6 days after artificial and natural swarming, bees grow more than 10 queen cells. If there is an abundant supply and the behavior of the insects is calm, they can be left. Individuals are raised in an artificial incubator. The device can be purchased ready-made or made by yourself.
The work is carried out in several stages.
- The queen cells are pruned only after they are completely sealed. You need to act carefully, since the age of the young shoots is unknown.
- When making incubators yourself, you need to install heating elements, a thermostat to maintain temperature, provide humidity and install ventilation.
- A conventional egg hatching apparatus has shown itself to work well in practice. poultry. The conditions it creates are suitable for storing queen liquor.
- The temperature remains constant - 34 0 C. The humidity level is 75%. You need to feed by hand.
Future queens emerge on the 16th day from the day of laying.
Natural withdrawal methods
Swarming
A very simple method of breeding queens, since no beekeeper intervention is required. When certain conditions are created, the swarming process can be accelerated. To do this, three frames with brood are placed in the hive, and the empty ones are removed. The bees immediately begin to build queen cells. Beekeepers create layers on them.
This method has several disadvantages:
- there is no possibility of forecasting;
- there is no control over the quality and number of females at the exit;
- If the appearance of the queen bee goes unnoticed, she will fly away and take part of the family with her.
Fistula parents
When the queen is lost, the colony begins building a new queen cell and transfers several larvae to “queen” feeding. Queen bred in short term, called fistula.
Beekeepers use this bee ability for emergency recovery to breed queens. To do this, the queen is taken from a strong swarm. Together with the brood, it is placed in a new home. Workers from 2-3 frames are also placed here.
In an old nest, noticing the absence of a queen, family members begin to prepare queen cells. Those that were laid on immature larvae are left for blasting, while those on adults are cut off.
This method allows you to quickly obtain a queen and increase the family. Such females are small in size and have low fertility.
Benefits of self-withdrawal
Obtaining young queens on your own has a number of positive aspects:
- The hatching of females is planned.
- Young animals are received in the required quantity and within a specific time frame.
- Breeding individuals are not playful. They are characterized by high productivity.
- For hatching, larvae of a certain size and age are taken.
- The method allows you to avoid large financial costs.
Errors when breeding queens
Novice beekeepers, due to a lack of experience and certain knowledge, often make mistakes when breeding breeding individuals. Experienced beekeepers do not recommend:
- engage in selection in the absence of a pure breed;
- shake the honeycomb;
- carry out activities in absence necessary conditions(temperature, humidity);
- do not delay the vaccination process.
Helpful Tips:
- During vaccinations, use additional tools: binocular glasses, a flashlight, a special spatula. This will allow you to perform the procedure accurately, without wasting extra time.
- The largest larvae, identical in size, are selected. Most often they are located closer to the center of the cell.
- To obtain large eggs, the queen is placed in an insulator.
- It is better to discard small, uneven queen cells.
- The family-teacher should be fed food containing protein and carbohydrates.
- The presence of open brood in the raising family is mandatory. In such a nest there are many bees that produce milk.
Queen breeding calendar
For any type of breeding work, clear deadlines have been established. When planning, you need to consider the following points:
- It is good to get queens early, given that the development from larva to fertile individual takes a whole month. However, first you need to get strong drone offspring.
- When determining the number of queens, the strength of the family is taken into account. Often the hatch is divided into several batches to gradually populate the cores.
- The withdrawal of the last batch must be completed before the main harvest, so that the division of families does not affect the honey yield.
The action plan is drawn up in accordance with the queen bee hatching calendar. Usually, each beekeeper chooses a convenient form for himself. This can be a table or circle where the days of the month and the stages of growth of the larva are indicated.
Removing queen bees does not require a lot of labor and large material costs. The main thing is to follow the rules. Work only with a strong and strong swarm. Create optimal conditions. Compliance with the basic recommendations will give a guaranteed result in the form of strong offspring.
The queen bee, as the successor of the bee family, is active for only 2 years, after which it needs to be replaced. Removing queens, especially artificially, is a painstaking task that requires knowledge of the habits of insects and a conscious approach. For newbies this task It often seems overwhelming. In fact, the process of raising queens turns out to be a completely non-routine affair, moreover, it is very interesting. The efforts made are quickly rewarded. Satisfaction comes not only from the realization that we managed to touch the process of the origin of life, but also from the volume of honey collected, because the rejuvenated swarm works with increased enthusiasm.
The queen bee, as the successor of the bee family, is active for only 2 years, after which it needs to be replaced
Before you start breeding queen bees, you need to understand their role in the bee colony. Main work force swarms are female individuals. emerges from a fertilized egg laid in an ordinary honeycomb cell.
With the queen bee, everything is initially different. While still an egg, she ends up in spacious chambers and is subsequently hatched with royal honors. Special care, nutrition consisting exclusively of elite royal jelly, selfless protection - all this is intended for only one bee out of hundreds, the mother bee. She must be healthy in order to produce full-fledged offspring without interruption.
If the queen raised in the hive suddenly dies, the bees have to build the queen cell again and spend time breeding a new mistress of the hive. It is this bee practice that experienced beekeepers began to use for their own purposes, and not only the ability to work with their hands helps them in this, but also the queen hatching calendar.
Hatching queens (video)
Breeding methods
Any beekeeper needs to know how queen rearing works today. Queens can be bred in two ways different ways: V natural environment and artificially. If you delve into the process, it turns out that the removal of queen bees is not so complicated. Queen bees can be obtained not only through natural means. Today, their artificial derivation is increasingly used. The advantages and disadvantages of both options are worth considering in more detail.
Removing queens, especially artificially, is a painstaking task that requires knowledge of the habits of insects and a conscious approach How to get a new queen bee in the natural environment
Removing queen bees naturally is one of the simplest. Here you won’t need anything other than knowledge about the peculiarities of bee life. All you have to do is put the bee colony into a swarming state. To speed up the procedure, you should create conditions in the hive that provoke the situation, namely: replace several “empty” frames with several frames with brood and cover the entrance. Now all that remains is to wait for the bees to start forming queen cells. The resulting queen bees will become the basis of new layerings. The method is truly simple: this is how beekeeping was carried out in ancient times. But simplicity ends where all the delights of the process end. The inability to predict the laying makes the success of the event very doubtful.
It also does not allow us to track the quality of those individuals that were hatched. Therefore, competent beekeepers today very rarely use breeding queen bees in this way.
The removal of fistulous uteruses is a completely different matter. The task is also easy to implement. The main advantage of the method is that you can get a queen within the time frame required for the apiary to flourish. Many of those for whom beekeeping is a business, and not just a way to provide honey for their family, prefer to prepare swarms for sale in this way. This method Removal of queens involves provoking bees to lay fistulous, or emergency, queen cells. For this purpose, the strongest family is recruited. A couple of frames with brood are removed from her hive and, together with the queen, they are sent to a new place of residence. Bees from several more frames are also moved there. As a result, a new layer, ready for work, is formed, which is allocated its own place in the apiary.
At this time, panic will already begin in the old hive. The subordinates left without the queen bee will be forced to urgently correct the situation and will start laying fistulous queen cells. The main thing here is to make sure that they are started from immature larvae. If something goes wrong, the queen cells are cut off. Rearing queens using this method produces strong individuals that are ready to produce a viable generation of bees.
The disadvantages of this natural method of breeding queens include placing queen cells too close to the comb, which, if necessary, cutting them off will lead to damage to the contents of the entire frame.
other methods
In a hive with a strong family, a frame is selected, sowed with clutches of eggs and young brood. A small hole measuring approximately 3x4 cm is made in its upper third. Of the entire bookmark, only 2 larvae should remain on such a frame. The prepared frame is placed in the hive of a queenless colony and after a few days the presence of queen cells is checked. After they are formed in the required quantity, the fistula can be cut out. The absence of queen cells indicates the presence of a living but incapacitated queen in the hive.
The queens obtained as a result of the manipulations will be strong, since the beekeeper has the ability to control the process of their development. But only by using a queen hatching calendar can you get the greatest return.
Removal of queens from polishing to insulation (video)
Using an incubator
An ordinary syringe can act as an incubator. The price for it is noticeably lower than for specific equipment for beekeeping. To create a container, you should purchase 20 ml syringes with a piston that moves easily but does not fall out. Artificial hatching of queens in an incubator will require some effort and manual labor.
24 holes are made in the cylindrical part of the syringe, 6 in a vertical row. The rows are located on 4 sides. Irregularities along the edges of the drilled holes are smoothed out with a stationery knife. The upper “wings” on the syringe barrel are cut off.
When drilling holes, you need to calculate their location so that they are under the very upper limit rim, near the entry point of the piston, this is required to fix it. You can use a paper clip to secure the piston. Next they work on the piston itself. A hole is also drilled in it, which will serve to fix the bowl. The hole must be offset from the center of the piston. This is necessary for the free movement of the uterus in the incubator and to facilitate the process of its exit. After attaching the bowl, the excess piston is cut off so that a fork-shaped end remains - this will make it more convenient to fix the syringe on the frame. The resulting container will have a bowl at the top. This will serve as the basis for growing the queen cell.
After the wax coating has formed, the remaining parts are attached to the structure. A piece of candy is placed at the bottom of the cylinder and covered with a piece of paper cut to the diameter of the syringe, in the center of which a 6 mm hole is made. Several bees are released into the tank. They are needed to feed the queen after emergence. The emerged queens are removed from the frame. The remaining syringes are left untouched until the process is completed. Say what it is the simplest way It is impossible to obtain queen bees, but it is very profitable, since it is economical, convenient and allows you to keep all the queens intact. In addition, newborns can be transported in a syringe incubator, because the containers are well ventilated.
Considering that on average 22 syringes can be attached to a frame, with one bookmark there is a chance to get exactly the same number of healthy hostesses for new hives.
Breeding queen bees naturally is one of the simplest Calendar for withdrawal
Beekeeping is gradually becoming a systematic science from an intuitive one. The breeding of queens from scratch is no longer done just like that. A special calendar tells beekeepers how to complete all work. It may look like a table, but it is much more convenient to make it round. This will require 2 disks different diameters. On one, large numbers indicate graduation by months and dates, on the second, the cycles of uterine development are indicated.
In the center, both disks are fastened with a bolt. The connection must be movable so that the disks can rotate freely. The breeding calendar is ready.
How to use the manual
There are no problems with use. All you need to do is combine the corresponding columns. For example, on May 6, a grafting frame with containers containing one-day larvae was planted in a bee colony. Find the number on the inner disk indicating the larva of this age and combine it with the time indicating the date on the outer disk. Fix the calendar in this position and see what needs to be done in the future. So, on May 9 there will be a control inspection of the grafting, the purpose of which is to cull low-quality queen cells, and on May 16 the remaining larvae must be transferred to. Upon further viewing of the calendar, it will become clear that from June 2 you can see whether the new queen has begun laying eggs, etc.
Killer bees Secrets of beekeepers
Although breeding queens - easy way increase the number of bees, however, there are a number of secrets without knowing which you will not achieve success. The main one is to work only with strong families. Good family has a large number of nurse bees that can feed the queen larvae abundantly and properly.
Strong families contain bees of different age categories, which means that the larvae will receive a varied diet. The fact is that the quality of bee jelly changes with the age of the bee. Moreover, only individuals from the 10th to the 19th day of life are capable of producing it.
The second aspect is the creation of a powerful paternal family that produces strong drones. They will provide the mother with seed material. Without them, even the most cared for and nurtured womb is useless.
Each owner decides on his own how to expand and improve the health of the apiary, relying on knowledge and intuition. Don’t forget that beekeeping is a rewarding endeavor, especially if it is approached with love and skill.
13.12.2016 0
We'll talk about how to independently infer queen bees: basic techniques and how to work with a calendar. Sooner or later, any beekeeper has to purchase or independently breed new queens for bee colonies. After all, the old ones may die, fly away, or stop producing the desired brood.
Life of bees
Different types of bees in the hive perform their own type of work. And the queen bee is the center of the hive, without which it will not last long. After all, it is she who lays the larvae, from which both worker bees and drones emerge. Depending on what the young brood is fed, certain types of individuals will appear.
So, if you feed them only royal jelly, it will appear new uterus bees And if you feed them with honey, then worker bees will grow. In nature, a new queen appears as a result of swarming bees and new queen bees fly away with part of the hive, creating their own separate colony.
For people this natural method is not suitable, since it does not provide for any control over the family and you can lose most of the bee colonies just before the honey harvest season. Therefore, there are several options for how to breed the number of queens you need exactly when you need it. Thanks to artificial methods, you can learn how to hatch queens from scratch, even without much beekeeping experience.
Different methods mean that the same method may not work in every region. Therefore, a lot depends on the climate, terrain, weather conditions and the bees themselves. Which one is right for your apiary can only be understood over time, by experimenting and trying different methods.
Natural swarming
In nature, a new queen is hatched only when the process of swarming bees begins. This usually happens when there is no longer room in the colony for new worker bees and the hive is ready to split into several new colonies. Similar conditions can also be created artificially.
- To do this, simply remove the empty frames and leave only those completely filled with brood. Then the bees actively begin the process of swarming and laying the so-called queen cells.
- If you decide to use the simplest and most natural method, borrowed from nature, then you need to compact the colony at a certain point, take away the extra frames and wait for the bees to lay the queen cell. Now they are being layered.
- But this method is now little used in beekeeping, since you cannot predict the quality of the future queen, nor the number of new individuals. The main danger is that you may not notice the appearance of new queens, and they will leave your hives with most of the worker bees.
Creation of fistulous queen bees
This method is also more natural, created by nature for the emergency restoration of the queen in the hive if she accidentally died.
- V in this case usual laid larvae for breeding working individuals in urgently are converted into queen cells by the bees themselves;
- in the apiary this method is very often used both independently and in addition to others artificial methods. This is an opportunity to very quickly create a large number of new queen bees;
- However, there are also disadvantages. In this case, the honeycombs most often deteriorate when you have to cut them off, because the queen cells are in close proximity to each other.
Emergency method
Artificial breeding of queens was invented by people taking into account the vital activity of bees. Only by understanding what the bees will do in a given case can one predict when and how a new queen will appear. We will describe one of the simplest and fastest methods in beekeeping below.
- At the very strong family We take the frame with the finished brood. In this case, it is imperative to keep the frame away from the bees, so as not to drag the queen bee along with you.
- We put such a frame in a new home. In this case, you can cut a small hole in this frame and also remove lower walls, leaving only two larvae. You don’t have to do this, but rearrange the entire frame as it is. They move such a frame with larvae to the family that has lost its “queen”.
- Thus, in the first hive, the queen will continue to create new brood, and in the second, from the transferred larvae, the bees will quickly create queen cells and they will have their own queen bee.
- If you do not find fistulous uterus, this can only mean that the uterus is still present there. This means that we need to look for the reason why she stopped producing brood.
Method with insulator
- in this case good uterus from a strong family are placed in a so-called isolation ward and installed in a well. The insulator is made of two frames and grilles. A frame with brood and an empty frame for laying new larvae are placed next to it. The main thing is to lay the structure on all sides so that the queen does not have the opportunity to escape;
- When the queen has laid the brood we need, we place her back between the frames with the larvae. And we create the nucleus ourselves. To do this, select a frame with dry food, honey and freshly made brood in the insulator. We throw several bees there, chickening them out from other frames. We place the uterus there;
- then fresh brood at high temperature and moisture content is cut to the lower border and placed in the same body from which the uterus was taken. We cut off the queen cells and place them in the nucleus and wait for the finished specimens to ripen.
A similar method of breeding queens is proposed by Gennady Stepanenko, who often shares beekeeping tips with beginners. With this method, it is important to use a hatching calendar so as not to miss when and what needs to be done.
Nicot system for breeding queens
In order to create new queens using the Nicot method, you should have some equipment available. This:
- Cassette made of dividing grid and lid.
- Bowls and holders for them.
- Plinths for attaching to the frame.
- Ready cells for future queen cells.
All this can be purchased ready-made and you can simply use Nicot to hatch queens through the system. Initially, the cassette is installed in the center of the frame. To do this, free space is cut out in it. It must be firmly attached to the frame. Next, you need to make a so-called grafting frame and clean the cassette.
The uterus is transplanted into the finished device. A family-educator is formed separately. Now the grafting frame is moved to this colony and the entire process of maturation of the larvae is controlled, until the appearance of the finished queen bee. The queen hatching calendar will help you with this. In this case, the queens are hatched without transferring the larvae from hive to hive.
Kashkovsky method
According to the method of the scientist Kashkovsky, the following procedure is performed.
- Each bee colony helps the young queen to hatch independently. At the beginning of the honey harvest, a layering is made, where frames with worker bees, an old queen, already sealed brood, honey and beebread, wax and dry land are transferred, and a few workers are also shaken off. Leave such cuttings for a month in a warm place;
- In the old hive, bees actively begin to create fistulous queen cells at this time, since that same emergency period has begun for them. Next, the beekeeper culls and leaves only the best and largest larvae;
- over time, they remove the old queen from the layer and unite the family again into one hive, but with a new young “queen”.
Video: breeding queens from scratch.
Basic requirements for quality breeding
So that your efforts are not in vain, and the result is sure to please you, you should adhere to some rules of beekeeping:
- The first and most important thing is that work is carried out only with strong families in the apiary. After all, only from a strong family can you confidently obtain the same good and high-quality queens.
- Carrying out work to remove queens most often occurs in the spring, early May or summer, when the good temperature, and young bees have the opportunity to fly around.
- To fertilize eggs in an apiary in mandatory drones must be present.
- An important condition is to ensure optimal temperature conditions and air moisture, especially if you move the frame with brood from the hive for some time.
Working with the calendar
The breeding calendar is used for almost all artificial means breeding queen bees. After all, you need to carefully monitor which day to carry out which procedures, do not forget about the vital activity of bees, the number of days of larval maturation, etc. There are two options for what the queen hatching calendar looks like. This can be a multi-colored table or two cardboard circles connected in the center.
