Description
Queens Management & Evaluation – July 17, 2022, 1 – 3:30 PM
(Appropriate for second season beekeepers. Beginners are welcome.)
The Queen’s ability to lay eggs, pass desirable behaviors (through her genetics) to workers and drones, make her the most important member of a colony. The beekeeper must be able to evaluate the Queen’s performance and recognize when a Queen must be replaced. We will discuss Queen development, mating & drones, and evaluation by measuring brood comb, and worker behavior. We will also provide instruction on raising Queens for the small apiary. In the bee yard, we will demonstrate simple techniques to raise daughters from your best performing Queen. The use of Queen cells, creating emergency conditions to stimulate Queen rearing in the colony, and using Nucs to raise a few Queens will be covered. Follow up volunteer opportunities will be scheduled for those participants wanting to work with Dan raising Queens at Warm Colors Apiary.
- Queen care and handling – comb, nurse bees, and nectar.
- Marking queens – age, visual, and genetic lineage.
- Predicting worker populations & swarming.
- Large scale Queen production.
- Small scale Queen production – the true locally grown Queen.
- What makes an excellent Queen? Genetics, development and drones.
Program, Textbook & Handout: $65.
(Also included in the complete series of workshops including all Starting in Beekeeping classes and workshops for $250)
