*QUEENS STILL AVAILABLE FOR 2010*

The Queen bee is arguably the most important individual in a honeybee colony. All queens provided are;

Fully mated
Marked in this seasons colour
Numbered from 1-99 for your record purposes

For more information, price & availability CONTACT DOUG

Introducing a new queen

This is how you would expect your queen to arrive, in a queen cage with a few attendant workers enclosed with her. Although many designs of queen cage are available, most queen cages have a few similar, but notable features - a candy plug to facilitate introduction (the bees release system) and a small loop on the cage to aid hanging it between frames during introduction. (Some advocate the removal of the attendant workers during introduction - I have found in my thirty years experience that it makes no difference whether you leave the attendants in the cage or take them out! It's your choice!)

The first thing to remember is that Queen Introduction IS NOT FAIL SAFE and no matter which method you choose there is ALWAYS A CHANCE the worker bees you are introducing her too will not be cooperative and reject her, resulting in the Queens death.

A few words of advice to assist you in achieving a successful re-queening are as follows :

*Decide whether you are introducing your new queen to a full strength colony OR if you will make up a nucleus hive (recommended), introducing her to the nucleus instead. (See below for advice on making up a nuc)*

Firstly, the candy plug in the queen cage will have a small break away tab attached to it - initially LEAVE THIS INTACT.

Place the queen cage (with queen safely inside) within the hive you are requeening, hanging it between frames, using a matchstick or cocktail stick passed through the hanging loop and the ends of the 'stick' resting on the tops of adjacent frames for support. Leave for 24hours. ( This allows the bees time to become accustomed to the new queen's scent WITHOUT releasing her, thus keeping her safe during any agitation the initial introduction may cause.)

After 24 hours break off the plastic tab and expose the candy plug, replace the cage (yet again with the queen still safely inside) to the same position in the hive and leave alone for 7 days (during this time the bees will eat away the candy plug and release the queen!)

Carnica bees, Apis Mellifera Carnica are a race of European honeybee, affectionately known in Europe as the 'gray grisly'. They are one of the two best, and most widely kept honeybees in the beekeeping world. They are hardy bees, are gentle and quiet to handle and show quick population increases in the spring. This quick spring build up must be managed properly to control swarming.

Making up a nuc ;

If possible, it is always better to make up a nuc to introduce your new queen too rather than introduce the queen to a full stock. From the 'parent' colony, take a couple of frames of emerging brood and place in the nuc box. Then shake a further two frames of bees into the nuc to get as many young bees as possible into the box. The older flying bees will return to the 'parent' hive, the younger bees will remain to look after the frames of brood. Introduce the queen as discussed above, close up the hive and FEED FEED FEED (with ambrosia if available, otherwise a light sugar syrup (1:1 Syrup)

For more information, price & availability CONTACT DOUG