Twenty-One Queen Cells Richer
Successes with getting queen-laid queen cells.
Category Archives: SARE Grant
Wax Coatings and Queens in the Making
A small success with Hive 1.
Wax Makes the Difference
The bees, which are definitely approaching swarm readiness, clearly gravitate toward wax, or waxed, queen cups.
Primed to Swarm
This hive told me today that they’re ready to swarm. The population is high, the brood nest is full, and the weather is ideal. The bees look like that all the way to the bottom. When the foragers out gathering pollen and nectar return for the night, it’ll be chock-a-block full. The outer bees on … Continue reading Primed to Swarm
April Test Runs
On 23 April I started an initial round of testing. I had two immediate goals: find out the quirks of using a queen isolation cage, and test the question of “will the queen lay in queen cups if that’s all she has?” I used the queen bar, side-face, and 75% frames for the first runs.
Frames at the Ready
It’s been an educational time setting up frames for the summer trials, and running initial tests to learn what I don’t know about the equipment (and the bees).
9mm Queen Cups
The third cell cup of the experiment — 3D printed queen cups in the style of a JZBZ cup, with a 9mm inner diameter.
Wax Queen Cups
While I’m waiting for the grant’s i-s to dot and t-s to cross, I tested making wax cups at home. I can get them commercially, but by making my own I have more control over the final product.
Northeast SARE Grant Recipient
Improving Apis mellifera Breeding Quality by Swarm Impulse Manipulation will explore the possibility of manipulating honey bee colonies such that the queen lays eggs directly into queen cups.