Latshaw Apiaries 

Queen rearing is a topic that has received a great deal of attention and consideration through the years.  There are countless books that wonderfully describe the multitude of methods used by some of the great queen breeders.  Therefore, I feel it would be redundant to reiterate such methods here, but in reading many of the great works on queen rearing, some fundamental points stand out as being essential to any successful system. 

It is important to note that while we as beekeepers manipulate a colony to produce an abundant number of surplus queens, we must work within the limitations of the colony.  It is also important to note that there is no one system that will produce perfect queens in every situation.  However, the goal of the beekeeper should be to develop a system that produces the highest quality queens possible under the circumstances.  This may mean that modifications must be made to the queen rearing system throughout the season to maintain consistent production.

An initial consideration deals with the use of a queen-less (QL) or queen-right (QR) system.  In general a strong QR colony will readily care for 20 or so cells with little difficulty.  Utilizing a strong existing colony to rear queen cells is ideal, because it reduces the amount of preparation required and the colony can be maintained throughout the season.  A very simple design utilizes two deep hive bodies with the queen confined to the lower hive body using a queen excluder.  There is a great deal of debate as to whether young brood next to the developing queen cells is necessary or even beneficial.  It is my opinion that the developing queen cells placed in the upper hive body benefit from the presence of young brood next to the grafted frame of cells.  Two specific benefits are that a larger number of young nurse bees are attracted to the frame of developing worker brood and the temperature surrounding developing brood is more closely regulated.

The time of year may greatly influence your decision to use a QL or QR system and this may depend on the colony's physiological state of development.  Honey bee colonies follow a developmental cycle.  Each colony may not be synchronized with regard to their developmental cycle throughout the season, but each colony will follow the approximate cycle depending on such factors as season, nectar, pollen and temperature.  I think the ideal time for queen rearing is when the bees naturally prepare for their own reproductive cycle of swarming.  This is where management becomes a key factor in queen rearing.  It is a fine line to walk when trying to maintain a large populous colony and at the same time preventing preparation for swarming.  In our area, May and June are the ideal months to raise queens and such work can be done with relatively little colony manipulation.  It is during this time of year that is easiest to employ the use of a QR starter and finisher system.  As previously stated a strong two deep colony will almost always care for 20 or so cells, but it may not always care for newly grafted cells.  It is interesting and beneficial to note that in the prime reproductive/swarming period, QR colonies will readily accept and care for newly grafted cells.  However, there appears to be a great deal of colony variability with regard to their willingness to accept newly grafted cells even in the best of conditions.  In addition initial grafts may be less readily accepted while subsequent grafts may be more readily accepted.  Many previous authors attribute such a change in nursing behavior to "training" the bees to care for queen cells.  Furthermore, many advocate that once a colony is "trained" it should be kept constantly supplied with small batches of queen cells.

What about other times of the year for queen rearing?  Beekeepers routinely rear queens throughout an extended season.  During less than optimal times of the year for queen rearing, a QL starter system may be employed.  It has been well documented that a QL colony  or swarm box will readily accept newly grafted queen cells.  Once the queen cells are started they may be left with the QL colony or they may be transferred to a QR finisher colony.  While QL starter colonies may be essential during certain times of the year, they can be quite costly in terms of providing a continuous supply of young nurse bees to keep them stocked.  For this reason they should be utilized as efficiently as possible.  A freshly made QL starter may be used to start a large number of queen cells which may then be distributed to QR finisher colonies after 24-48 hours.  In addition, the QL starter colony may be used to start several batches of queen cells.

This explanation of queen rearing may leave you with more questions than answers, however my intent was to outline some important principles rather then to develop the "perfect" queen rearing system.

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Last modified: 02/29/08

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