Beekeeping queen hatching in early spring. Queen bee hatching technologies

There, in the newly-minted hive, you need to shake off the bees from two or three additional frames. Thus, we will get a formed layer, which we place for further permanent residence in the apiary. Well, what happens in the old hive? There, the bees were left without their queen, so they were forced to take radical measures, namely, to lay fistulous queen cells. In this case, it is imperative to ensure that the queen cells are laid on immature larvae. Otherwise, they need to be cut off.

The quality of such fistulous queen bees is quite satisfactory. Let us remind you that today more than one method has already been invented to improve their quality and create the most optimal conditions for this, but more on that in another article. The only disadvantage of this method may be that the queen cells are placed too close on the honeycomb. When they are cut, the entire honeycomb is damaged.

Artificial withdrawal

The simplest method

To do this, again, you will need to determine the strongest family, and then the breeding of the queens is carried out as follows. We select from this family a frame on which young brood and eggs are sown. A small hole is cut in the upper third of the frame, approximately 3 cm high and 4 cm wide. All lower walls The cut cells are removed and only 2 larvae are left. Now the frame can be placed in the nest of a queenless colony and in three to four days it will be possible to check the laying of queen cells.

When the bees have laid the number of queen cells you need, you can start cutting off the fistulous ones. If no queen cells are found, then the family has a living queen, but something is wrong with it. Individuals bred in this way are of good quality and the beekeeper can always control the process. But it is better, for optimal results, to use a calendar for breeding queens. Below is a video about how you can urgently remove a queen bee.

Another easy way

Hatching queens using this method is used when it is necessary to hatch at least five to ten queens at the same time. As you probably already understood, the main criterion for the quality of the offspring will be work on strong family. We find such a family in our apiary and place its uterus in a special two-frame insulator. A frame with mature brood and a frame with cells for laying eggs are also placed here; it will be light brown in color. The structure is covered with frames on top to prevent the queen bee from escaping.

The insulator is placed back into the colony between the frames with the brood. On the fourth day you can begin to form. It will consist of three frames: with honey, dry food and brood from the insulator. We add working individuals from two or three more frames to it. And we put the uterus there from the isolation ward. The frame with fresh brood is taken into the house, where the lower border of the beginning of the appearance of larvae is cut off. Such a frame is placed back in the family from which the queen was originally taken.

Now we wait about four days and check the bookmark, while removing all the fistulous queen cells. When there are approximately two days left before the appearance of the mothers, the queen cells are cut out. Then they are put back to ripen. After the release of the maternal individuals, we place them in the cores.

Other methods

The most described above simple methods hatching of queens. They are also the most used among domestic beekeepers. All other methods are based on the above. It is true that there are newer methods, but they have not yet been thoroughly developed in practice. Therefore, they will not be mentioned in this article.

Criteria for successful withdrawal

Although the task is not difficult, it still requires compliance with some basic rules or criteria, without which all the beekeeper’s efforts will be in vain. The first and most important thing is to carry out all the work on a strong family, then we can talk about good quality new queen bees. The second is to ensure optimal conditions, including diet and temperature, necessary for good incubation. And finally, this is the creation of high-quality paternal and maternal bee colonies.

The main task of the paternal family is to breed high-quality and early drones. After all, they are the ones who must provide the uterus with an abundance of seed material. Without them, even a high-quality maternal specimen will not be of any use. The task of the maternal family is to raise good queens. At the same time, it must be remembered that it is necessary to form maternal families when there are sealed drone broods in the paternal ones.

Calendar

A successful conclusion also directly depends on the timely completion of work. Delay may result in disruption of the entire event. Therefore, every beekeeper should have a calendar nearby.

Below are two such calendars, one in the form of a table and the other in the form of a circle. Guided by them, you can accurately trace the development of maternal individuals and draw up a clear schedule for their hatching.

Video “Queen breeding for beginning beekeepers | Honeycomb cutting method"

This video from the Beekeeping and Nature channel shows the removal of queens for novice beekeepers using the honeycomb trimming method.

One of the tasks for beginning beekeepers is to increase the number of families. In order not to spend part of your still small profit on purchasing bee packages, you need to master the independent removal of queen bees, obtaining information from more experienced comrades in the craft or watching thematic videos. Also, this skill will help in time to replace a low-quality queen of a bee colony - common reason insufficient harvest and even death of honey insects.

Where to begin?

Any practical lesson begins with studying theoretical foundations. Self-removal Queen bees are no exception. What you need to know:

1. The functions of the uterus and its difference from other insects in the hive.
2. Queen development period, stages of development from egg to mature insect.
3. Optimal conditions for the successful implementation of your plans.
4. Rules that must be followed to breed a new queen bee.

The task of the queen bee in the hive is to maintain and develop the family, due to the constant replenishment of working individuals, who constantly die from age and wear and tear. The queen consistently lays eggs, from which representatives of the bee colony develop. The queen differs from ordinary insects in the hive in its large size and elongated abdomen, thanks to which it is not difficult to find it on frames.

Under suitable conditions (temperature, humidity), the process of maturation of a new uterus does not exceed 12 days. This is the period from the laying of an egg until the emergence of an individual capable of mating flight with drones. If conditions are not optimal, the ripening period may become longer. Between the stages of egg and imago (mature individual), any bee, including the queen, goes through the larval phase, then the pupa.

The optimal time for breeding a high-quality queen bee is May or early June. During this period, weather conditions are best suited for maintaining a favorable microclimate in the hive.

Rules for breeding queen bees, compliance with which is mandatory for the success of the event:

• Well-wintered, strong bee colonies are selected for work, preferably those that are highly productive during honey collection;
• it is necessary to create full-fledged maternal (raising queens) and drone (seed) families;
• a queen cell is made after the drone honeycomb is completely sealed, so the queen will mature at the same time as the males (drones develop to the adult stage several days longer);
• the timing of the queen bee's hatching is taken into account, checking with specialized calendars, drawing useful information from videos and articles on relevant topics.

How to remove queen bees?

For successful breeding queen bees, just watching a video on the topic will not be enough. It is necessary to take into account the region, the characteristics of honey collection in a given area, the climate, the characteristics of the apiary and the breed of honey-bearing insects. It would be helpful to know the standard stages of breeding queen bees at home:

• near the open brood, in the family selected for breeding purposes, there is a frame in which the honeycombs are light brown;
• constant high-grade feeding (honey, beebread) is necessary;
• in order not to miss the moment of sowing the eggs, the frame is checked daily;
• with the beginning of the formation of larvae, layering is done - two brood frames and part of the worker bees;
• At the top of the frame with brood cells, a horizontal slit about 5 cm high is made and bee embryos are thinned out along the entire row, leaving one out of three larvae;
• from the abandoned larvae, insects independently form queen cells;
• approximately on the 10th day, the formed queen cells are cut out, after which they are placed in layers or placed between brood frames (depending on the goals);
• the previously removed queen, along with workers and brood, is returned to the “native” bee colony.

These are universal steps proper upbringing a new queen, although there are many original methods that allow you to obtain new queen bees.

Withdrawal methods

Beekeepers have posted many videos about various methods obtaining new queens. All proposed methods are usually already known, but each beekeeper brings his own experience to the methods. In beekeeping, queens are hatched using in various ways stimulation of this process, but all known methods are divided into natural and forced (artificial).

The easiest methods are natural methods, when the development of a new queen bee is initiated by worker bees under the influence of certain factors. Artificial methods are considered less simple, since it is necessary to interfere with the natural processes occurring in the hive on the part of the beekeeper, use additional devices and constantly monitor the progress of the process. Various clever moves are used, including raising queens in an incubator. Let's consider the main natural and forced methods, descriptions of which are more often found in beekeeping videos.

Natural Methods

The simplest and most natural way to breed queen bees is to stimulate swarming. To do this, 3 frames with embedded brood are delivered to the hive, and the same number of frames without larvae are taken from the bee colony. This forces the worker insects to start forming queen cells. The technique is simple, but is used less and less due to imperfection. The disadvantages are the inability to reliably predict the behavior of the bee colony, as well as the number of queen cells laid and the quality of the queens at the exit. There is also a risk of “missing” the emergence of the newly emerged queen, which is fraught with the departure of the swarm and the weakening of the family.

The ability of honey insects to urgently reproduce a dead queen is used by beekeepers to breed a new owner of the hive. The existing queen is taken from a strong bee colony and placed in another hive along with part of the bees and brood, forming a layer. The bees left without the “head of the family” immediately begin laying the queen cell. Beekeepers call these queen bees fistula bees, they are slightly smaller in size and not as fertile, but there are many ways to improve these properties.

For a simple and accessible method for breeding queen bees, even for novice beekeepers, see the following video:

Artificial withdrawal

The forced production of new queens makes it possible to obtain high-quality biomaterial, while controlling the process at all its stages. Let's look at a simple and quick way to artificially hatch queen bees. A frame with fresh brood is taken from a strong honey bee colony and a rectangle 3 cm high and 4 cm wide is cut into it on top. The cells located below the hole are cut off, removing the brood. They leave 2-3 honeycombs with young larvae, after which they place the frame in a family that does not have its own queen. On approximately the third day, the working insects begin laying queen cells. Despite the fact that the method is considered emergency, the quality of the resulting queen is satisfactory in all respects, and the process occurs without the transfer of larvae.

Another technique involves making a special insulator in which two frames are placed. One of them is with brood, the other is with empty combs for laying eggs. The queen bee is placed in the structure and the top is closed so that the queen bee cannot get out. The insulator is placed back into the hive. On the fourth day, a nucleus is constructed, consisting of honey and brood frames with embedded larvae. The queen and some of the worker bees from the hive are also placed here. The frame with newly laid bee embryos is prepared by cutting along the lower edge of the brood and returned to the previous bee colony.

Hatching queen bees using the Tsibin method, watch this video:

Other methods

Looking through various beekeeping videos, you can find many modified or supplemented proprietary techniques. One of these is the method of breeding queen bees using the Nicot system. The technology makes it possible to breed several queens at once, and the process is controlled at every stage. The essence of the technique is to transfer the larvae of the future uterus into specially prepared “cells”, which play the role of incubators. The nests are attached to the frame frame and installed in the hive, where conditions are suitable for the development of the larvae. After the development period, “unsuccessful” individuals are discarded, the rest are added to the formed layers.

How to obtain new queen bees using the Kashkovsky method? Watch the video:

Criteria for successful withdrawal

The process of breeding one or several queens at once, which is not difficult for an experienced beekeeper, can confuse a novice beekeeper, even if he has watched many videos with a visual demonstration of various techniques. The choice of method for obtaining a new queen for a bee colony plays a lesser role in the success of the event than compliance with the rules listed above and understanding the biology of bees and the characteristics of their instincts. It would not be amiss to study the calendar, where all stages of uterine development are located in chronological order.

Queen breeding calendar

There are several unique graphs that reflect all stages of development of queen bees. The most reliable, accurately reflecting the maturation process of the queen, looks like this.

There is another, radial version of the “uterine” calendar, which looks like this.

In the second diagram, in addition to the breeding schedule for queen bees, the annual cycle of work in the apiary is clearly displayed, which is clearly useful for a novice beekeeper. To consolidate the theoretical arguments outlined above, we suggest watching the following video:

Queen rearing is considered one of the most important skills in beekeeping.

There is even a special branch of science - mother breeding.

Today there are many known effective methods that allow you to achieve good results.

The bee family consists of 3 groups - worker bees and drones. In addition, there are young developing individuals in the hive. Only worker bees collect nectar and pollen. They are sterile and have underdeveloped genitals.

The queen bee is a female insect characterized by well-developed genitals. She is responsible for laying eggs. Drones do fertilization.

The insect is characterized by visual features:

1. It is larger than other species. The insect has a wider and longer body.
2. The abdomen of the uterus has a pointed end and protrudes forward.
3. It has a smooth and straight tip.
4. The paws are located almost perpendicular to the body and splayed in different directions.

When to hatch queens

In apiaries it is worth changing the queen bee at intervals of 1-2 years. From the age of two, the queen bee loses her productivity and lays many unfertilized eggs, which become drones. As a result, the colony becomes less strong and produces less honey. To maintain productivity, the queen bee needs to be replaced.

Family choice

For the hatching to be successful, it is necessary to choose the right parent family. The offspring that will be born depends on this.

When choosing a family, you should consider the following requirements:

• high honey productivity;
• endurance throughout the year - this is especially true for winter;
• resistance to diseases.

Launch calendar

Before withdrawal, you should familiarize yourself with the calendar dates of the event. various procedures. In addition, you should worry about the presence of a rich bribe. Nutritional deficiency or adverse climatic conditions will provoke the removal of unproductive queens.

It is best to carry out work on removing queen bees from late spring to the first half of summer. In the middle zone, the procedure begins after the first honey plants bloom.

In September, breeding of queens is done quite rarely. This procedure is carried out by the bees themselves if the old queen is sick. In such a situation, the new individual has time to fly around and prepare for winter. Thanks to this, problems can be avoided in the spring.

Hatching calendar

Mother breeding from the queen cell to the fetal uterus:

Conditions for withdrawal

If you plan to hatch queens, you need to create certain conditions in early spring:

• provide insects with food;
• perform an ultra-early flyby;
• qualitatively insulate the hive;
• provide quality honeycombs;
• use honey-beebread fertilizing;
• form favorable conditions– the temperature should be +28-30 degrees, humidity – 80-90%.

How to remove a queen bee: methods with video

To achieve good results during removal, you need to choose the right method for carrying out the procedure.

The simplest conclusion of queens:

The main method of breeding queens

The queen bee is a large individual that is located in the hive. She is responsible for laying eggs. Therefore, her health affects the condition of the entire family. In nature, an individual lives 8 years. But to maintain productivity in apiaries, it is replaced at intervals of 2 years.

For breeding, you can use a simple method that is popular among novice beekeepers:

1. Place 3 frames with brood and close the entrance.
2. Make sure that there are no broodless frames in the hive.
3. Wait for the queen cells to set. Then layering will appear.

Artificial methods

Today, there are many artificial methods of removing uteri - emergency, using an isolator, the Kashkovsky and Tsebro methods. Such methods are complex, but at the same time they allow you to achieve better results.

The most in a fast way considered emergency:

1. Take a frame with brood from the strongest family. Be sure to shake off the bees so as not to displace the queen.
2. Remove the bottom walls from the frame with 2 larvae and place it in a new home with a family that has lost its queen bee.
3. In the first hive, a new generation of bees will appear, and in the second, the bees will form new queens instead of the transferred one.

Cerebro method

To facilitate the removal of the uterus, an insulator is used. It is a cell with a grid with marked cells. Thanks to this, the queen bee cannot enter the hive ahead of time, and worker bees cannot fly to her. Getting used to the new queen bee lasts 3-7 days.

Kashkovsky’s technique requires compliance with the following rules:

1. Strong families are placed on wide streets. Uninhabited honeycombs are not taken out of the hive.
2. Inspection and disassembly of hives is performed no more than 7-8 times during the season.
3. Fistula uteri are used for production. This helps to significantly reduce the amount of work.

The advantage of the procedure is the possibility of obtaining a large number of unrelated queens. The disadvantages include the need to break out excess queen cells.

The Cebro method is considered one of the most effective. It consists of observing the following rules:

1. Bees are kept in three-part hives.
2. In the spring, during the growth period, the inserts are not removed, but a second body is made.
3. Weak families are rejected.
4. On the 14th day, at a late harvest, 2-3 layers are created and a bee colony is formed.
5. After the bribe, the formed layers are combined with the main family. In this case, the queen bee is removed.
6. To increase honey collection, it is worth providing for a high-quality wintering. To do this, the bees are well fed and the hives are ventilated.

Conclusion in a simple way

To raise an individual, the main bee must be removed for a certain time and the honeycomb must be selected. It must have open brood. It is carefully cut so that young larvae are present on the edges. Place in the central area of ​​the nest. As a result, insects will begin to form queen cells.

This method will give results if there are a sufficient number of larvae in the family. They should be distributed throughout the cell. The technique is not used for large apiaries. This is due to high labor intensity.

Hatching without transfer of larvae

To breed queen bees all year round, you can use the Zander method. The procedure is carried out without moving the larvae. As a result, many individuals will appear, which are used to replace old ones, the emergence of new families and offspring. The method is suitable for large apiaries.

To implement this method, you should cut the frames into strips. There should be 1 larva on each of them. Attach the cells to the block and secure them to the bar. To do this, it is recommended to use liquid wax.

Hatching with transfer of larvae

This is a common method that helps to obtain young queen bees. It is used in small apiaries. First, you should choose the most productive family. Place an insulator with high-quality honeycomb in the center light color. If there is no insulator, the honeycomb is placed in a nest.

When young larvae form on the 4th day after placing the comb, you need to select the queen bee from the colony and replant her layering. It includes young bees and brood obtained from other colonies. After 5-6 hours, the honeycomb is removed and a strip with the youngest larvae is cut off from it with a sharp knife. The cells need to be carefully expanded. Insects will build queen cells on them.

Hatching in a multi-body hive

Multi-hull hives will help to grow powerful families. To do this, the formation of queens begins in early May. At the same time, families occupy several buildings. A layer appears at the top. A barren individual and a queen cell are placed in it. At the end of May you can start sowing the honeycombs.

Output from the syringe

This is an effective method that helps to get healthy bees and avoid fights. No special equipment is required to isolate a bee. To do this, use an ordinary syringe equipped with a piston. Its volume should be 20 ml.

To do this, do the following:

1. Take out the piston and make 4 rows of holes of 6 pieces along the length of the device. The upper ones are done in the area where the piston enters the syringe. They are used for fixation when it is necessary to transport a bee.
2. Holes for the bowl should be drilled in the rod. It is made not far from the center.
3. The bowl is fixed to the hole. The rest of the piston must be cut off with an ordinary knife.
4. Place candy balls at the bottom and let the bees in there. They are responsible for feeding the main individual.

Incubators for hatching queen bees

For breeding queens, it is permissible to use special incubators. At the same time, they must remain constant temperature at 34 degrees for queen cells and 27 degrees for barren queens. Humidity parameters are maintained at 75%. In order for barren individuals to develop normally, they need to be fully fed. Queen bees appear 16 days after laying.

Breeding queens without orphaning the family

This modern method. In this case, the individual is not removed from the hive, but is left behind a special grill. This ensures the bees have access to the queen.

The family raises brood and hatches larvae. An existing individual cannot destroy young ones. After hatching from the cocoons, new families can be obtained.

At the same time, the key disadvantage of the method is that worker bees do not provide enough larvae. They also create too many fistulous queen cells.

Problems often arise after the queen bee is isolated. Early isolation will help avoid this. Only after this is it worth breeding new individuals. The breed of bees is also important. Southern individuals are able to feed more insects compared to highland and northern ones.

Early breeding of queen bees

If you need to obtain several queen bees, it is recommended to use swarm queen cells. You can provoke bees to lay queen cells by dividing the nest. A special board is used for this. There should be a window in the central part. It is covered with bars.

2 frames are attached to the board on each side. They must contain food. Then the frames with brood are fixed. The branches must have at least 1 cell. It must contain eggs and larvae. Each part must have a taphole.

In one part of the hive there will be a queen bee, in the other there will be bees. After 10 days, the queen cells must be carefully cut off and used for layering. In this case, the insert board must be pulled out of the socket.

Natural Methods

The most in an accessible way The reproduction of queens is considered to be the natural reproduction of bees. In this case, the insect family must go into a swarm state. By creating a favorable environment for swarming, it will be possible to significantly speed up the process.

Three frames with brood should be placed in the hive and the entrance should be covered. Then you can expect the formation of queen cells. It is worth forming layering in this area and on the new framework.

One more natural method are considered fistulous queen bees. Key advantage is the breeding of individuals in the required period of time. Bees should be encouraged to lay queen cells.

To do this, you should choose a strong family, find the queen, transfer her and 2 frames with brood to the hive. Shake the bees out there. As a result, it will be possible to form a layer, which is moved to a permanent hive. Individuals from the old hive lay queen cells. At the same time, it is important to ensure that they are present exclusively on formed larvae.

Conclusion with partial orphaning of the family

In this situation, the queen bee is removed from the hive before being adopted. Then it is returned to its original place.

Breeding queens from A to Z:

Conditions for a successful procedure

In order for queen bee breeding to be successful, it is important to follow certain recommendations:

1. To get a high-quality queen bee, you should buy it exclusively from well-known beekeepers. This can also be done at breeding apiaries with a good reputation.
2. Before breeding, it is recommended that the queen bee rest for a week. To do this, active bees should be removed from the individual. After resting, the bee will produce large eggs.
3. In queen cells placed on frames, it is necessary to ensure a temperature of +32 degrees and a humidity of at least 75-90%. For breeding, a special device is used - an aerothermostat.
4. Queen cells should be distributed evenly between families. This will help to grow them and ensure a sufficient amount of royal jelly.

Possible problems

Beginning beekeepers may encounter various difficulties when breeding queens. Common mistakes include the following:

1. Removal without using clean material.
2. Impact on honeycombs with larvae or queen cells.
3. Crossing of relatives.
4. Incorrect microclimate in the hive.
5. Lack of control over the milk, which causes it to dry out.
6. Performing crossbreeding of different breeds.

Removing queen bees is a rather complex and labor-intensive procedure that requires certain skills from the beekeeper. To achieve good results, you must strictly follow the basic rules and recommendations.

In this article you will learn how to breed bees from scratch and what methods exist for breeding these beneficial insects.

How to raise bees from scratch

In order for the apiary to be profitable, it is necessary not only to follow all the rules of maintenance, but also to correctly select insects for further breeding. In addition, there are certain rules for breeding and breeding queens.

Where to begin

Bees for breeding can be purchased from a variety of places: from large specialized farms and from amateur beekeepers. When purchasing, be sure to check veterinary documents confirming the health of the insects. That is why it is better to buy insects on specialized farms, although non-specialized farms with apiaries also sell queens and families.

Note: A productive family, when purchased in the spring, should have 4-5 kg ​​of food, and in the fall - more than 16, as well as at least 10-12 nesting combs.

Figure 1. Composition of a bee colony

• It is better to purchase 2-3 families at once that have already survived the winter. In this case, in the new season it will be possible to obtain commercial honey from them;
• It is best to make a purchase in early spring;
• For beginners, to make a profit, it is enough to buy 20-50 families. You can make a profit from them by servicing the apiary yourself. Larger numbers require more time and skill to breed. As experience increases, the number of families in the apiary can be increased to 100-150 per person or 200-300 per two specialists.

To transport insects, you can use ready-made hives, special bags or cages. Transportation is best done in the evening or at night. Examples of transport cages are shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Transport cages

The hive entrance is tightly closed and opened only after placement in a new apiary. If transportation is carried out in bags, be sure to check that each container contains about 1.5 kg of bees, a queen, four honeycombs and 3 kg of sealed honey. In summer you can also buy swarms in swarms. In this case, you must make sure that there is a queen in the swarm, since without her the insects will scatter.

What is needed to breed bees?

Reproduction occurs by laying eggs by the queen. Fertilized eggs produce new queens and workers, and unfertilized eggs produce drones, which are subsequently used for mating (Figure 3).

Note: Throughout the year, the number of insects constantly changes due to the death of old ones and the breeding of new individuals. Workers also sometimes lay eggs, but only dwarf drones hatch from them, which cannot mate.

Immediately after wintering, in approximately the first three weeks, the size of the family decreases, since the breeding of new individuals does not yet cover the death of old ones. In the future, the indicators are equalized and the number of animals grows. As the number of young individuals increases, the productivity of the queen decreases and the growth of the young stops. Subsequently, the number of individuals continues to decline during wintering.

Figure 3. Reproduction of insects by eggs

The strength of the family can be assessed after wintering. If it occupies 8 frames (4 each with food and brood), the family is considered strong. Medium productive ones occupy approximately 5-7 frames, and weak ones - less than five.

Peculiarities

Under natural conditions, bees reproduce by swarming. This process begins after the accumulation of too many young individuals. The future swarm is formed by young workers who do not have enough work in the old hive. Examples of swarming are shown in Figure 4.

The swarming process goes like this:

• In the second half of summer, bees fly out of the hive (from about 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.). The first to leave the hive are the scouts, who are looking for a place for a new family.
• After this, some of the working insects fly out, followed by the queen, and lastly the remaining individuals.
• The new swarm remains close to the mother hive for several days (for example, on a branch). At this time, the beekeeper needs to prepare a place for relocation. If this is not done, the insects will simply fly away.

As a rule, after the hatching of a new queen and the departure of the first swarm, the swarming process is repeated: the second one leaves the mother hive after 9 days, and the third after another 1-2 days. After this, all young queens in the mother hive are destroyed, since the worker insects leave only the largest individual.

Figure 4. Swarming process

To collect a new swarm you need a special device - a swarm. As a rule, a hook or rope is attached to the top for hanging the device. The swarm is hung under the collected insects and carefully shaken off inside. It is better to keep the collected swarm in the winter hut until the evening and transplant it into the hive at night. Inside the new hive, it is necessary to install frames with honeycombs and fodder honey. You can make a swivel yourself using the diagram and photo in Figure 5.

To move bees into the hive, a small gangway is placed next to the arrival board and the bees begin to pour out a little at a time. Sometimes insects are poured onto the frames from above, treating them with smoke. The top of the hive must be covered.

Note: Young individuals from a new swarm have an increased ability to collect honey, so they are often moved into an old hive, installing a new one next to it.

To limit natural swarming, colonies are propagated artificially. There are several methods of reproduction:

• Using individual layering: To do this, several frames with brood and adults are removed from the hive and moved to a new empty hive, located slightly away from the old one. After the brood appears, the family is strengthened by introducing several new frames.
• Half-flight division: in this case, the family is divided approximately in half. This method is only suitable for strong families that tolerate wintering well. Half of the frames with brood, food and insects are moved to the new hive and placed about half a meter away from the mother hive. Next, you need to determine which of the families has the queen. This is very simple to do: working individuals from the hive with the queen fussily run around the tray. After this, a young individual is added to the queenless colony.
• Temporary layers: This method can only be used before honey collection begins. New individuals are placed in the second part multi-body hive, and when the first honey flow is completed, young and old individuals are united, forming a stronger family.

Separate keeping of families can be practiced only if there is a good honey collection near the apiary. This will not only increase the survival rate of insects, but also improve the quality of commercial honey.

Preparation for breeding

The apiary should always have a supply of queens to replace old, sick or dead individuals. In addition, young queens are needed to expand the apiary and plant new families in the hives.

Figure 5. Diagram and photo examples for making a swivel

The highest quality and productive queens can be obtained from specialized farms that breed them. To transport or send queens by mail, special cages are used, in which not only the queen is placed, but also several accompanying bees and honey for feeding. After receiving a new individual, it must be immediately transplanted into the hive, since prolonged keeping in a cage will negatively affect its productivity.

Note: Breeding quality breeding queens is difficult. To do this, you need not only to carefully monitor the purity of the breed and brood, but also to create special families in which the queens will be bred. In small apiaries, queens can be bred on their own, using swarming or popular methods of artificial rearing.

For example, a productive family is allowed to release the first swarm. After this, the combs with the maturing larvae of the queens are cut out from the nest and they are rearranged into the cutouts of the combs of the colonies without queens. It is imperative to leave one queen cell in the mother’s nest to breed a young productive queen.

Figure 6. Artificial removal of the uterus

Another method can also be used: the queen is temporarily removed from the productive colony and placed in a nuc. After this, a honeycomb with eggs is selected and all cells are removed, except those from which the larvae have already hatched. The larvae are further thinned out (no more than two larvae should remain per three cells). Next, the frame is moved to the center of the nest, and the workers begin to place queen cells in them. When the time for the larvae to hatch approaches, the cells are cut off and transferred to queenless colonies, and the removed queen is returned to the hive. Figure 6 shows examples of artificial creation of queen cells for breeding productive queens.

The queens are hatched at the end of spring or early summer, when the bees are already stronger after wintering and the honey plants begin to bloom intensively.

Keeping bees for beginners: video

The video shows in detail the features of raising bees at home for beginners. With the help of this video you will be able to properly organize the process of caring for insects in the apiary.

Rotational beekeeping for beginners is considered one of the most effective technologies in beekeeping. This method is also called year-round maintenance.

The main goal of this breeding method is to maintain health bee families during the winter and prevent the development of diseases.

What is this method

Rotational breeding of bees involves the implementation of several mandatory activities. First, the beekeeper must regularly remove drone brood, since drones are most often affected by Varroa mites.

Secondly, their old colonies need to be constantly created with new ones with careful monitoring of insect health. In addition, the hives need to be regularly transported to apiaries where there are more honey plants. With the arrival of winter, it is necessary to provide insects with optimal wintering conditions in natural conditions.

By following these rules, breeding and caring for bees will continue without serious difficulties. The beekeeper will be able to constantly form new families that are resistant to diseases.

Peculiarities

If you are interested in how to start breeding bees from scratch using rotational technology, you should know what features and rules need to be taken into account.

Among the main stages of breeding using this method, I highlight t (Figure 7):

• Spring honey collection It is better to carry out in apiaries with a large number of honey plants. Since bees are prone to swarming during this period, excess honey and young bees must be regularly removed from the hive.
• Creation of new families involves moving young insects and queens to a special room. When all the insects have gathered around the queen, the colony is considered created and can be moved to the hive. After a week, the quality of the brood and the degree of acceptance of the queen are monitored. If she does not cope with her task, or the bees do not perceive her, the queen is replaced.
• Monitoring family readiness for winter carried out by weighing. This allows you to determine whether the insects have enough honey to survive the winter.

Figure 7. Scheme of placement of insects in the hive during rotational breeding

Before the onset of winter, the maternal families are disbanded, and the queens are placed in separate cages to create an artificial swarm. Old families are united with new ones and preventive actions to prevent diseases.

Rotational bee breeding: video

You will find more information about rotational breeding in the video. It describes the main features of the method and the rules for carrying out the necessary activities in the apiary.

The two-queen breeding method is based on the biological ability of these insects to coexist peacefully and productively in one large colony with two queens (Figure 8).

Note: In this case, two dividing grids are installed in the hive, through which bees from one colony can contact the brood of another, and vice versa.

With such maintenance, the theft of honey is reduced, and the bees produce much more products during the season, while maintaining the health of the brood, workers and queen.

Peculiarities

Many modern beekeepers prefer to use not the two-queen system itself throughout the year, but only some of its aspects. In particular, families are united immediately before the start of the honey harvest to increase the amount of production.

Figure 8. Drawing of a hive for two-queen housing

Among the positive features of the method it is worth highlighting:

• Overwintering large joint families allows for more economical consumption of feed and preserves the health of insects;
• Rearing brood requires less feed and labor;
• Large families are less susceptible to disease and are highly productive and active.

However, it should be noted that to use this method bulkier hives will be needed. In addition, insects often begin to swarm, so the beekeeper needs to carefully control this process.

The health and vitality of the uterus plays a very important role important role, since it is the only fertile individual in the family that lays eggs and provides young worker bees. Hatching can be done at home, although many beekeepers prefer to buy these individuals from special farms.

There are several ways to withdraw at home. In this article we will describe the most popular of them, and photos and videos will help you master this process yourself.

How queens are hatched at home: video

The queen bee is the largest individual in the hive. She is the only one capable of laying eggs, so the well-being of the whole family will depend on her health.

Note: Under natural conditions, the life expectancy of an individual is about 8 years, but in apiaries they are changed every two years to maintain productivity.

Obtaining such individuals at home is carried out according to a clear algorithm(picture 1):

• Sowing the fertilized egg: only from the fertilized egg can the queen of the hive be hatched, who will subsequently lay eggs to breed worker bees. Infertile eggs can only produce drones.
• In the honeycomb, the bees build a special bowl into which the fertilized egg will be laid.
• Worker bees protect the larva and collect royal jelly for it.
• On day 7, the queen cell is sealed along with the larva and food.

Figure 1. Stages of breeding a queen bee in natural conditions

The larva, feeding on royal jelly, first turns into a pupa, and then into a full-fledged individual and emerges from the queen cell on about 16 days. The full technology is shown in the video.

Peculiarities

Several main individuals can develop in one hive. The first one to hatch will destroy all the others, so this process must be strictly controlled in order to promptly relocate individuals to other families or form offspring.

You can determine the hatching date by the color of the queen cell: the darker it is, the less time is left until the bee leaves the cocoon.

Rules

In prosperous apiaries, the life expectancy of the main individual can be up to 5, and sometimes up to 8 years. However, it makes no sense to keep the main individual in the hive for so long, since this bee gradually loses its productivity and the family stops renewing itself.

It is best to change it every two years. However, this period is conditional, since before sending the family for the winter, it is necessary to evaluate the condition of the individual and, if it is too old or has decreased productivity, it should be replaced with a new one. This way you can reduce the risk of death during the winter.

Output technology

In order for the breeding of such individuals in small apiaries to be successful, it is necessary to follow certain technologies and rules of beekeeping (Figure 2). Firstly, it is carried out only in warm time of the year. Secondly, to obtain a healthy individual, you need to choose the strongest families that are not prone to swarming.

Figure 2. Apiary breeding technology

It is recommended to begin hatching after replacing old bees with young ones after wintering, as well as in the presence of drone brood. For this purpose, it is better to use larvae that were laid by an old bee. The fact is that the individuals that appeared naturally, much stronger than those that appeared artificially. This is explained by the fact that such larvae initially received much more nutrition from their nurses.

Beekeeping: video on hatching in small apiaries

In small apiaries, hatching without transfer of larvae is predominantly practiced. This is the easiest way and does not involve a lot of labor or stress for the family.

In this case, the main bee is removed from the colony for a while and a comb with open brood eggs is selected. The honeycomb is carefully trimmed so that the young hatched larvae remain along its edges. After this, it is immediately placed in the center of the nest so that the bees can build queen cells on it.

This method will be effective only if a sufficient number of larvae of the same age have appeared in the family and they are evenly distributed throughout the comb. For large apiaries, this method is not suitable due to its high labor intensity and the need to constantly monitor the condition of the frames with eggs.

The author of the video will tell you how to breed such an individual in a small apiary.

Removal of queens in syringes: video

The output in syringes is simple, accessible, but effective method, which allows you to breed healthy individuals and prevent fights between them.

To isolate a bee, you do not need to buy special equipment. A regular 20 ml syringe with a piston that moves easily but does not fall out is perfect for this purpose.

To remove this method, follow these recommendations:(Figure 3):

1. You need to remove the piston from the syringe and drill 4 rows of holes, 6 in each, along the entire length of the syringe. Top holes should be at the level of the piston entrance to the syringe. They will be used for securing if the bee needs to be transported.
2. A hole for the bowl is drilled in the rod, at a short distance from its center.
3. The bowl is attached to the hole, and the remaining part of the piston is cut off with a regular knife.
4. Candi balls are placed at the bottom of the syringe and several bees are released inside, which will feed the main individual after exiting.

Figure 3. Preparing syringes for hatching

This method allows you to qualitatively isolate individuals from each other. In addition, they can be transported freely, since air will flow inside the syringe, and the piston will allow the container to be fixed so that the bee cannot get out. The only drawback can be considered the labor costs for the manufacture of the insulators themselves. To more clearly show how to properly prepare syringe equipment, we recommend watching the video.

Hatching queens without orphaning the family: video

One of the most modern methods withdrawal is considered without orphaning the family. In this case, the individual is not removed from the hive, but is left inside behind a special separating grid, which provides the bees with free access to the queen.

In this way, the family continues to raise different brood and hatch larvae, but the existing individual cannot destroy the young, and after they emerge from the cocoons, the beekeeper can form new families.

Peculiarities

Despite the high popularity of the method, it also has some disadvantages. The main one is that worker bees from the rearing colony poorly provide queen larvae and lay eggs. a large number of fistula queen cells (Figure 4).

The supply becomes especially poor immediately after isolation of the uterus. To prevent this, you need to isolate it in advance, and only then start breeding new ones. In addition, the acceptance of larvae for rearing depends on the characteristics of the breed. For example, southern bees are able to feed much more bees than northern and high-mountain ones.

Features of breeding without orphaning the family are shown in the video.

Rules

The larvae are given to the family to raise in the spring, when warm weather stabilizes. It is important not to allow the number of larvae to exceed. One family can feed no more than 25 young queens, but it is better to reduce this number to 20 so that the family does not weaken.

Figure 4. Technology of withdrawal without orphaning the family

You can increase the number of larvae later, when the active period of honey collection begins. In summer, the number of young queens that one family feeds can reach 35. If the same colony is used for breeding queens almost continuously, the number of larvae should be gradually reduced to prevent the colony from weakening.

Removal of queens without transfer of larvae

Queens can be hatched not only in summer, but throughout the year if you use the Zander method, in which hatching is carried out without transferring larvae (Figure 5).

This method allows you to constantly obtain a large number of individuals, which can be used to replace old individuals, form new families and offspring. This is why the no-larval transfer method is great for large apiaries.

Peculiarities

To hatch using this method, you need to cut the frames into strips so that only one larva remains on each strip. Each cell is attached to a small wooden block and fixed to the mother frame bar using liquid wax.

Figure 5. Hatching steps without larval transfer

This method has many advantages. It is quite simple and suitable even for novice beekeepers. However, when using it, there is a need to spoil a large number of honeycombs, and some of the larvae, which in the future may become queens, are destroyed.

The essence of the method

For the procedure to be successful without transferring larvae, a certain algorithm of actions is followed.

Step-by-step instructions include the following steps:

1. A strong family places a light brown honeycomb with sugar syrup in the center of the nest.
2. Four days later, when eggs and larvae appear on the honeycomb, the queen is removed from the colony and transferred to a small nuc.
3. The honeycomb is removed from the nest and small slits measuring 20*5 cm are made in it.
4. In the top row, the number of larvae is reduced (one is left and two are removed), and the comb is placed between frames with open brood.
5. After three days, the frame is inspected and the fistulous queen cells are removed.

Within five days after the removal of the queen, the bees will seal the queen cells, and after another 10 days, the mature queen cells are taken and placed in separate incubators, and the queen is returned to the colony.