Queen rearing is as much of an art as science, and although the bees do all the work, it is the help of the beekeeper that ensures success and manages the outcome.
As we put together nucs for our bee-supplying services one of the biggest risks is the availability of queens that can manage our climate, be resistant to hive pests and diseases, and be gentle. Oh, and honey production!
We have had great success with queens we have purchased from suppliers, from whom we receive queens in the mail. But we also have many hives that have successfully overwintered here treatment-free and we would like to consider breeding queens with stock, have them open-mate with feral survivor stock, and introduce these queens to our nucs.
Thus, this new adventure into queen rearing!
Our foray began with elements of queen rearing from videos by the FatBeeMan and Long Lane Honeybee Farms with our own twist. Here is the video. SPOILER ALERT - we were unsuccessful on this try, but we are now putting together another video with a more foolproof method, and we will also retry the FatBeeMan method again.
Here is the video:
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