Great video Jason, queen rearing is maybe a year away for us. It's our 3rd season as keepers. We managed a few successful splits last year 2017, and have a mating nuc. We did brilliant with overwintering getting a 7/7 success in spring 2018. We have another 7 hives ready for splits,swarms and baiting hives. So maybe next year a queen rearing adventure might. Begin. We are having a high success with our high density poly high over red cedar hives. The 2 red cedars came through winter but are much weaker than the poly hives. They are gaining strength but are behind in numbers compared to the poly hives. Just something for yourself and other keepers including new want to be keepers to consider purchasing.
I have to poly nucs are they are great for winter and early spring build up but mid summer they cause bearding due to the heat they hold. Glad to hear you overwintered so well and thanks for sharing.
I used the jzbz cell bar to hold the plastic cups for the first time earlier today. Absolutely brilliant. No more cups falling off warped bottom bars. Well worth the dollar or two that dadant charged. Highly recommended.
I am watching your series and as a new bee keeper and am considering the options of raising queens. Your approach of starting from the beginning and working through everything step by step is helpful. have been subscribed for about six months and like your videos.
Jack Patriquin. I recommend starting queen rearing by splitting healthy hives that have created queen cells. A newer beekeeper will learn alot about the queen progression timeline. Timing mating flight with weather, how incredibly ling it seems before she starts laying, etc. Just a suggestion to save grafting fof later.
Jack, I think the advice Justin give you is probably ideal for a beginner. I am trying my best to make the queen rearing series easy to follow but at the same time there are several factors I have not discusses yet. Queen rearing is very complex and can snowball is a hurry. I would say start small and work your way up vs just diving in. Best of luck!
thank you Jason. Being a first year beekeeper. I have bin following your channel and learning lots. I also have chickens and know they wont eat bees that are dead but will eat them wile they are dying. What is your varroa mite treatment control for early spring time?
Glad to hear my channel has helped you out. My chickens must be weirdo's because I have never seen them have interest in my bees alive, dying or dead. Maybe it's the bred of chicken, not sure. My varroa mite treatment in the spring is just breaking the brood cycle by making splits. Basically with no brood there is no mites to be born. It takes a couple weeks for a virgin to mate and start laying so there is a decent sized gap with no brood.
Hi Jason. A huge question; I just saw a video about CCD or Colony Collapse Disorder that appears to be running wild throughout the world. Have you heard of this? Have you seen any cases or have heard of any cases? The RU-vid documentary said it was hitting the USA hard. Thanks a lot and take care. Looking forward to more videos. Tim
I been hearing about this since 2009 when I started to keep bees. I am not sure I believe the reasons they give for CCD though. They have several thoughts to why bees are disappearing but none of them are 100%, so it's like they are guessing. I have seen a colony collapses but I blame mites, pesticides, insecticides and herbicides.
I used my scroll saw to cut them. In this video, I explain how I did it and you can get another look at them. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-D1rY4gztZi4.html
When I took my queen rearing class they taught us several ways to rear queens. One of them was the Nicot system but I have never personally used it. I am not a fan of the price of the kit, if I am correct it nearly $100.
Yes, it is about a hundred bucks after you get the extra pieces that you need. I am going to give it a try. I will let you know how it turns out if you would like? Thanks again for the great videos.
