Michael Palmer: (Queen Rearing in a Sustainable Apiary) National Honey Show (2013): 1:11 minutes
History: Vermont beekeepers meeting 1971; sitting with Charlie Mraz (a great mentor) who said: “Why have a bunch of queens from a far away place when you can raise them yourself?”
Nucleus colonies provide resources (brood) for queen rearing; flexible use of this material important.
Three reasons bees raise queens (supersedure,emergency,swarming) – Brother Adam used a combination of emergency and swarming — “10 plus 10 plan” setting up a colony with many young workers.
All about the Jelly – how to max out production of jelly. Observation and imitation of the honey bee’s natural behaviors to use. Many methods can be used; Production method is the swarm box starter, queen right two-colony finisher (queen right colony/larvae above excluder); instead use nucleus colonies.
Sixteen day cycle with four groups for catching queens. Mark using very small amount of paint.
What to select for? Wintering; chalkbrood; discussion of inbreeding.
