# queen rearing video/nicot video



## Keith Benson (Feb 17, 2003)

Has anyone seen the nicot and queen rearing videos from beeworks.com?
http://www.beeworks.com/usacatalog/items/item211.htm 
http://www.beeworks.com/usacatalog/items/item213.htm 

If so, what did you think?

Keith

[ February 25, 2006, 11:32 AM: Message edited by: kgbenson ]


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I have them. If you just buy the "Queen Rearing" video http://www.beeworks.com/usacatalog/items/item213.htm it has all the same footage as the Nicot one plus more. If you've never seen it done, it's a nice enough video where you get to see some hands on stuff. There's nothing profound in them but I enjoyed them.


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## Keith Benson (Feb 17, 2003)

Thanks, I almost bought them both.

Keith


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

keith:

they are ok. The hardest part is getting the queen inside the room and of course, they do not show you this part!


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## Elmar Mook (Feb 10, 2006)

> The hardest part is getting the queen inside the room

So, any suggestions? I'm getting one this spring so I'm craving for info.

Thanks, Elmar


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## Keith Benson (Feb 17, 2003)

This thing works a treat for getting queens into small places - especially if you are not comfortable just picking them up with your fingers:

http://www.beeworks.com/usacatalog/items/item110.htm

Keith


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I use the "hair clip" queen catcher most of the time. But fingers work. Practice on drones. After you've caught a hundred drones or so a queen seems pretty easy. Just move, quickly, smoothly, gently and firmly. They seem contradictory, but with practice you can combine them.


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## BeeBear (Jan 20, 2004)

I suppose I'm the only beekeeper who would care about this, but the fact that the web site doesn't have a legitimate SSL certificate was enough to discourage me from buying the DVD. I suppose that I shouldn't try to correlate between the ability to correctly run a web site and the ability to create a good beekeeping training video, but I do.


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

In my opinion, the video could have been better. But at least now there is a video. I do hope someone puts out a better video.

There is another video on queen rearing that is coupled with a text book and I heard it is pretty good. It is offered through one of the colleges back east and I also have seen it in Bee Culture. It focuses more on grafting however.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>I suppose I'm the only beekeeper who would care about this, but the fact that the web site doesn't have a legitimate SSL certificate was enough to discourage me from buying the DVD. I suppose that I shouldn't try to correlate between the ability to correctly run a web site and the ability to create a good beekeeping training video, but I do.

David Eyre is a very competent beekeeper, who is generous with his advice and help and makes and sells a lot of very high quality items, many of which you can't get anywhere else. You can easily do business with them by phone or mail if you don't feel comfortable with doing it online.


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## BeeBear (Jan 20, 2004)

>> David Eyre is a very competent beekeeper, who is generous with his advice and help and makes and sells a lot of very high quality items, many of which you can't get anywhere else.

Thank you, Michael.

I did not know this. Perhaps I should have asked. Your inital reaction to the video was rather lukewarm, and I know nothing about David. I have never had occasion to do business with him.

I was forming my opinion of the operation based on their web site. Their web site has some serious problems. I suppose that I shouldn't form an impression of someone's beekeeping ability by the state of their web site, but it's all I have.

As they say, you only have one chance to make a first impression. It's unfortunate that David made his first impression for me from his web site.

First, there was a page that told me that required information was indicated using red asterisks . . . but there were no red asterisks. Then I discovered that all of the entries in the form were required, including FAX number. He can't complete an order without my FAX number? Sorry, but to me this simply indicates someone who has never proofread his own web site.

Finally the problem with the certificate was the last straw. Not because I'm particularly concerned about security, but what kind of conclusion am I supposed to draw from visiting a web site that has serious issues? As I said, it's all I have to judge from.

An object lesson for all of us: You can be the best beekeeper in the world (or create the best DVDs ever made) but if you maintain a web site, it should meet the same high quality standards as everything else. Otherwise it might even be better not to have the web site.

Sorry, perhaps these comments don't belong in this thread . . . but this isn't the first time that we've gotten off topic here.


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## BeeBear (Jan 20, 2004)

I have to throw in one more comment here.

I just got one of the nastiest emails I ever received, from David Eyre. He might be a very competent beekeeper, but don't even consider offering any constructive criticism.


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## Brent Bean (Jun 30, 2005)

I bought the Nicot Queen rearing video , and found it to be very informant, his teaching style is easy to listen to. The accent made me think of the year I lived in North East Wisconsin. To me it was worth the money. 
I would like to see a queen rearing video that would show all the aspects of queen rearing, like setting up starter/ finisher boxes. And different methods that are widely used like swarm boxes. And information on breeder queen selection.


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## Bushkill Farms (Jan 4, 2004)

I too purchased the Nicot video and found it very informative and worth the money.

I have also purchased many items from beeworks and have always been pleased with their service.


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## Chef Isaac (Jul 26, 2004)

I do have to agree with BeeBear. If you did not know anything about David and you went to his web site, you could get that impression.

I also think that if yo uare going to have a web site, you should get it professionally done. As someone from this web site once told me, you wouldnt give someone a homemade business card with crayon written all over it. (could be a new trend!)

My point is that a lot of people can and do loose credability as a business person by their web site. It doesn make a lot of since. 

I also agree with Brent. I would like to see a better queen rearing video that shows all aspects of it. 

But for now, we have Davids videos. They are just ok... just ok. 

I at least thank him for giving us something to watch and a standered to beat.


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## sugar bandit #2 (Oct 4, 2003)

I bought both the "nicot system demonstrated" and the "queen rearing" Dvds and found both very helpful. I'm a fairly new to the queen rearing process and was able to pick up on some of the standard practices demonstrated by the videos to help correlate with the mountains queen rearing literature out there.


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