# queen breeding in screened enclosure



## jackneld (Dec 13, 2012)

Has anyone ever tried to breed virgin queens in an enclosed area with a large number of drones? I see online that someone has a patent for a small containment chamber and a queen holder that allows her to hang in a secured fashion. Just wondering if this has ever worked.


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## JD's Bees (Nov 25, 2011)

Gregor Mendel among others have tried to mate queens in an enclosure and all attempts failed.


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## jrbbees (Apr 4, 2010)

Mating is reported to take place 50-100ft in the air on the wing.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

I have sen a video of a queen mating. it involved tethering the queen so she could only fly so far and a camera on a swivel so it followed her as she flew in a circle. How many queens they went through to get the shot or how many attempts it took I have no idea. I don't for a second think it is a method that could be used for queen breeding or rearing.

I have seen comments in other sources that says no attempt at inclosed breeding has been successful.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

I read about this method 40 years ago, it's not a new idea. If it worked, people would be doing it.


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## beenut46 (Nov 12, 2011)

About 15 yr ago Southwest research in San Antonio did a test using a netted enclosure about 30 ft high and maybe 50x75 ft .The breeder nucs were set inside around the edge.I cant remember sucess rate but I belive some got bred.I cant rember the details but I think this was done for the Weavers.Maybe if Danny reads this he can fill in some about it.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Yes I've sometimes wondered about that, just how large of an enclosure could be used, and work. There may be some suitable buildings around somewhere, be interesting.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

A picture that comes to mind for me. no idea if it would work but it could be huge, and not necessarily as expensive as you might think.

poles like telephone poles with cables strung between them. these cables for the network to hold something like agribond over a field and would even drape it to the ground.

Even if this only held up for a couple of weeks you could get a lot of queens mated with a lot of control over the drone population.

Agribond is the first thing that came to mind because I use it when growing tobacco. I am not sure what other types of netting or ?? are available that are similar. air will pass through agribond but a net would be better to withstand wind.

Anyway just imagining how you could get a huge enclosure. 60 to 100 feet high and say cover an acre or more. I know entire tobacco fields are commonly covered with Agribond or similar cloths.

Edit, oops remove the d from agribond if you are searching for it. most photos you will find have it laying on the ground. here it is being used as an enclosure.


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## doc25 (Mar 9, 2007)

I was wondering if you couldn't put your nucs in an old silo or something. They would have the height to fly.


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## KQ6AR (May 13, 2008)

I also read that it was tried about 40-100 years ago & doesn't work. The queen likes to fly 6-10 miles away to mate.


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## WilliamsHoneyBees (Feb 17, 2010)

I think something like DanielY posted would work if it were incredibly large. I don't know why it wouldn't...But I think II would be a lot cheaper in the long run. But would be interesting to see the results


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

I am not sure II woudl be cheaper if you look at it from a cost per queen angle. You could mate thousands of queens even tens of thousands in a large enough enclosure.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

They don't have anything scheduled at the Superdome from Dec. 22 to the 30th. anyone tight with the onwers? maybe we can set some hives in their for a couple of days and see what happens.

For those that tend to get confused, Tight means bros, cuz, friend, buddy, companion or that other guy at the bar. He's the one that when you get arrested. Is setting next to you


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Problem is, I don't know if one can artificially create a drone congregation area. If one simply saturates The Dome or a large airplane hanger w/ drones and releases virgin queens, will they get mated? That would be interesting.

And then, once the rental bill is paid, could anyone afford to buy those queens?


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## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

Daniel Y said:


> They don't have anything scheduled at the Superdome from Dec. 22 to the 30th. anyone tight with the onwers? maybe we can set some hives in their for a couple of days and see what happens.
> 
> For those that tend to get confused, Tight means bros, cuz, friend, buddy, companion or that other guy at the bar. He's the one that when you get arrested. Is setting next to you


"Is setting next to you" sitting No one SET him there. He chose to SIT. 
Just since you and I are tight, aka friendly, w/ each other I knew I could point that out and you would not be offended.


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