2. The following is required for successful raising of
queens:
•ample supply of nectar and good quality pollens
•an abundance of sexually mature, high-quality drones
for mating with the newly emerged virgin queens
•suitable weather for mating of drones and queens
•suitable starter and cell raising colonies (as described
later)
•a queen mother to breed from, whose offspring worker
bees (and colonies) display ideal characteristics such as
gentle temperament, disease resistance, low swarming
tendency and excellent honey production.
Requirements to obtain good queens
3. Necessary Equipment
•5-frame nuc to serve as a cell starter
•Cell cup of choice (JZBZ)
•Grafting tool
•Cell cup frame
•Grafting table with excellent lighting and magnification
•Bee brush
•Paint Marker
•Mating Nuc
•Queen Cages
•Notebook
4. Queen rearing involves the following stages:
•establishing a starter colony for initial stage
of rearing queen cells
•establishing the cell building colony
•grafting honey bee larvae
•transferring the mature queen cells to honey
bee nucleus colonies for the mating stage.
Steps for queen rearing
Summary
6. Drone Production
• 100 capped drone cells needed for each
queen produced
• 18-20 cells per square inch = 5 square
inches per queen
• Only 10% will actually mate
7.
8. Drone Holding Colonies
• Full size or nuc colony may be used
• When drone cells are sealed remove frame and bees
and place into an empty hive body
• Add 1 frame of merging worker brood and bees
• Repeat this process with all drone colonies
• Add frames with pollen and honey to fill boxes
• Place a young virgin queen in each colony
• When drones emerge and bodies have hardened –
dust with powdered sugar
• In 4-6 weeks install new queen into the drone holder –
removing the caged virgin
10. Getting Started (cont.)
• Pull frames of nurse bees and shake into nuc
• Add: two empty drawn out frames
1 frame containing honey
1 frame containing pollen
1 water soaked sponge
• Install grafts in empty slot
• Set aside in cool, dark area while
performing grafts
11. Setting up cell builder colony
• Select strong colony
• Install open brood and bees into empty box
(leave open space for grafts)
• Both outside frames should be honey &
pollen
• Place open brood and bees above queen
excluder on top of hive
• Install feeder
23. After 24 hours in the starter
colony…
New Folder (2)cell starts.jpg
New Folder (2)cell starts.jpg
24. • Move grafts to cell builder colony and
install in empty slot
25. Patience is a Virtue
• Leave in cell builder for 5 days –
NO PEEKING!
• Feed continuously
26. Day 10 -- The wait is OVER.
Either move to incubator or leave in builder colony
27. Day 14 – Moving Day
• Make up mating nucs & install cells
28.
29. More Waiting and Then…
• Do not disturb for 10 days
• After 10 days check for laying queen
or virgin
• Allow queen to lay for minimum of 21
days/28 days is even better
• Pull queen and install new cell or
combine mating nucs into larger
colony
