Improving the Strain of Bees

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 94, Issue 2, 15 February 1957, Page 145

Improving the Strain of Bees

Seasonal Notes for the Domestic Beekeeper

"THE aim of every beekeeper should be the 1 improvement of his strain of bees. This

can be done by breeding queens from colonies that have produced good crops and are easy to handle and show little inclination to swarm. A. W. Bennett, Apiary Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Hamilton, explains in this article a simple method of rearing a few queens.

/"’OOD crops of honey cannot be secured from a poor strain of bees. An endeavour should therefore be made each season to secure a few new queens either by rearing them or buying them from a well-known queen breeder. In even one year the beekeeper will find he has so improved the strain of bees that they not only

give him a greater surplus of . honey but are a pleasure to handle. From the domestic beekeeper’s point of view the pleasure he gets when handling his bees must be counted a profit as well as the honey he takes. In queen rearing one of the most important items often forgotten is the

presence of large numbers cf selected drones. These should be produced from a colony which has shown qualities similar to those of a colony from which a breeder queen, has been chosen. In some cases drones from the same hive may have to be relied on. A comb with plenty of drone cells should be inserted in the hive well before queen rearing is started. The aim should be to have the selected drones about a week old before queen rearing begins.

For the domestic beekeeper wishing to produce only a limited number of queens in a very simple and straightforward manner the following method perhaps is as good as any. After the beekeeper has selected the colony from which the queens are to be produced he should insert into the middle of the colony a comb that has not been used previously for brood rearing. In 3 days this comb should have plenty of eggs deposited in it and be ready to be cut and placed in the cell-building colony.

This colony should be fairly strong with at least a full box of bees. From this is taken the queen and all unsealed brood which can be formed into a nucleus for the time being. This should be done the day before the comb containing eggs is given to the queenless bees for cell building. At this stage honey or sugar syrup should be fed. Being queenless for 24 hours and having no means of producing a queen these bees will be in good condition for queen-cell building.

The comb which has been inserted into the breeder colony is now removed. It should be examined and the lower, portion of comb cut off so that a row of cells containing eggs is left along the bottom edge. This comb is now put into the middle of the cell-building colony, which, will quickly start cell building along this

cut edge. Five days after the cells were sealed over, or on the 14th day after the eggs were laid, these cells will be ready to be cut from the comb and be inserted into the hives for requeening. When cutting out the queen cell the beekeeper should cut well up into the comb to leave the queen cell with a piece of comb attached; through this a piece of wire can be pushed to make an ideal fastening when the queen cell is introduced into the hive to be requeened, with very little or no chance of damage to the queen cell. Should more cells be built than are required, the beekeeper should select the cells that are wide at the base and are of good length,

as from these cells the better queens are generally produced.

Introduction of Queen Cells

The introduction of a queen cell is very simple. First, the old queen and any queen cells that may have been started in the hive are removed; the new cell is then simply fastened with a piece of wire to a frame of brood near the top bar. The wire should be

about 4in. long and bent in the middle to form a U very similar to a lady’s hair pin. Both prongs of this pin are pushed through the piece of comb attached to the cell and then into the comb to hold the cell. The use of this pin will give a very firm and rigid fixing. The comb is then put back in the centre of the hive and the next comb to it spaced to leave just room for'the cell to hang between without damaging it. In 2 days the young

queen will have emerged from her cell, and with average weather conditions will mate and be laying in a further 6 to 8 days. When all queens are mated and laying, the drones reared for mating can be excluded from the hive by the method described in the notes in the October “Journal”. A beekeeper without a desirable strain of bees in his apiary would be

well advised to buy a queen or two from a commercial beekeeper. These queens should be tried for a season and if they are satisfactory, cells should be’ raised from them for fur- ~ . . ther requeening of the apiary. Queens obtained from some commercial breeders are dispatched in mailing eaves with full incages with full mstructions for introduction attached to the cages and if these instructions are followed, the introductions should be successful. Brief instructions are given here for beekeepers receiving queens with no instructions. Remove the old queen and any

queen cells that

may have been started. Place the mailing cage, gauze or wire side down, on top of the combs after opening the combs so that most of the gauze is free to the bees. The ends of the cage must also be left free for the bees to eat away the cardboard covering and candy placed in the cage. Gnawing away of cardboard and eating of candy usually take 2 days. On the third day gently lift the hive mat and inspect . the cage to

see jf the queen is free. If she is, replace the mat and do not touch this hive for at least a week, when a very gentle and quick inspection should be made to see if the queen has been accepted. If . eggs are present, the queen will be also. On no account should the hive be gone through to find her, as this will result j n upsetting the bees and perhaps the killing of the queen. If the queen is still in the cage and no attempt has been made to gnaw away the cardboard, make a ' quick bu t thorough inspection of all brood combs to see if any queen cells have been started If any are found, make sure they are destroyed. Now close b j ve down a g a leaving the queen cage on the top of the frame, if no queen cells are found, the release of the queen from the cage can be hastened by removing the piece of cardboard and leaving the bees to eat away the candy. Queen rearing is a fascinating beekeeping technique and is the only way that a beekeeper can expect to maintain the strain of his bees at a level where he can expect freedom from excessive swarming, a type of bee easy to handle, and maximum crops.