New Method of Rearing Queen Bees

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 71, Issue 1, 16 July 1945, Page 21

New Method of Rearing Queen Bees

TO effect a high average production of surplus honey it is 7 sound practice z to requeen annually with young queens, but if this is not possible it should be done every second season. While some beekeepers prefer to induce the bees to raise queens under natural conditions, others, especially those requiring large numbers of queens, employ what may be described as artificial methods. Whichever 1 method is used, one should always endeavour to keep as close to nature as possible. Best results in queen rearing are to be . obtained during the period of a natural nectar flow. Mr. C. A. Greig, Richmond, Nelson, has developed an entirely new method which appears to be closer to natural conditions than any other artificial methods. This method calls for the use of artificial cell cups, which are made in the usual way by dipping the rounded point of a smooth stick, just the size of the base of a natural queen cell, first into cold water and then into hot wax to a depth of approximately fin. This process is repeated two or three times, taking care not to immerse the stick quite as deeply on each successive dip after the first, which will result in a very thin edge and heavy base, to the wax cell cup. The wax should be kept just hot enough to keep the surface liquid. • ‘ ' The wax cell cups are then secured in position by dipping their bases in hot wax and placing them on the sides of a suitable comb (see Fig. 1). The most suitable comb for the purpose is one containing an abundance of fresh pollen and nectar. As some colonies are much better at cell building and caring for the young queens in their larval stage than others, it is very important to select a suitable hive, which should be one of at least two stories well filled with a strong force • of young worker bees. . The queen, together with one or two combs of brood and adhering bees and also two additional combs, one containing honey and one empty, may be placed in a nucleus hive for safe keeping until the queen cells have been raised, after which the nucleus including the queen is reintroduced to the original hive. All other unsealed brood in the hive should be removed and placed on another hive in the apiary, thereby releasing a greater number of nurse bees to attend to the batch of young larvae to be given to them. A space is left in the centre of the upper super in the prepared hive ready to receive a comb of grafted cell cups. On each side ,of this space are placed combs containing fresh pollen and nectar. The hive is then left for an hour or so, during which time the absence of the queen becomes fully apparent to the bees, thus creating in them a keen desire to raise queen cells. Newly-hatched larvae 12 to 24 hours old from a selected breeding queen are transferred by the usual method, one into each of the artificial cell, cups fixed direct on to the comb as illustrated (Fig. 2). A crochet needle with the hook removed and the tip slightly flattened makes an ideal transferring needle. This operation is best performed in a warm room to avoid chilling the larvae. On the other hand, care should be taken to avoid the direct rays of the sun. In approximately 10 days the cells are ready for introducing to nuclei hives.

Fig. 3 shows a fine batch of cells raised by this plan. Up to 85 good cells have been raised at a time on two combs in a single hive by this method.

—A. J. MYERS.

'.Apiary

Instructor, Greymouth.