# Queen Rearing Article



## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

Thought I would share an article I wrote for Bee Culture.

http://www.beeculture.com/net-gain-cell-building-system/


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## tpope (Mar 1, 2015)

Great article. Thanks for sharing. I have lots to think about..


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## Charlestonbee (Mar 26, 2015)

Great article thanks so much.


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## wvbeeguy (Feb 20, 2011)

I have read it twice since i got magazine. Definitely going to try it with 5 frame nucs vs 10 framers. Always knew we needed lots of bees for cell builder, just never thought of nuc having that potential. Thanks


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## Clayton Huestis (Jan 6, 2013)

JSL are you doing separate starter and finishers? Didn't come across very clear?


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## Nordak (Jun 17, 2016)

Thanks for sharing this. Good stuff.


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## Riverderwent (May 23, 2013)

Thank you.


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## Marti (Jun 29, 2014)

I like it, Thanks


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## coopermaple (Aug 30, 2009)

Great article! Gave me some ideas to test this spring.


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## Knisely (Oct 26, 2013)

Great article. Very educational and very inspirational.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Those morphological measurements are interesting, 
In your opinion do larger thorax and head width measurements equil superior queens?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

BTW, laying the graft cell bars uptop the nest is quite the interesting idea


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## msl (Sep 6, 2016)

yep, it was a head smack moment...why not? dang
in a nuc sized system, all those extra bees on the extra frame


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Lay the hives insulation blanket overtop of the graft frames as all worries of cold would be managed


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## Bkwoodsbees (Feb 8, 2014)

Very good information!


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

Thanks everyone!


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

Clayton Huestis said:


> JSL are you doing separate starter and finishers? Didn't come across very clear?


Yes, I use the polystyrene 5 framers as a starter and the 3 story nucs as a finisher.


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

Ian said:


> Those morphological measurements are interesting,
> In your opinion do larger thorax and head width measurements equil superior queens?


Ian, yes and no. There is variance between races, but overall those metrics are used because they do not change over the life of the queen whereas weight can change based on the queen's physiological state. Generally speaking, larger queens exhibit more "queen like" characteristics and development.


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

who came up with that metric?
Would you have a contact or link to where this metric is being used?


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## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

Found it;
https://entomology.ces.ncsu.edu/apiculture/queen-disease-clinic/


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

JSL said:


> Thought I would share an article I wrote for Bee Culture.


I really enjoyed reading your article. Thanks for sharing it!


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## JoshuaW (Feb 2, 2015)

Thank you for sharing your technique, Joe! I thought "Finally a system that isn't a drain!"

My question (sorry it's so basic) about making the split is: if the goal is to keep the forager/nurse population below the swarming threshold, what do you do to keep the foragers removed in the split from returning to the parent cell-building colony? Or did I miss something??

Thanks!!


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

JoshuaW said:


> Thank you for sharing your technique, Joe! I thought "Finally a system that isn't a drain!"
> 
> My question (sorry it's so basic) about making the split is: if the goal is to keep the forager/nurse population below the swarming threshold, what do you do to keep the foragers removed in the split from returning to the parent cell-building colony? Or did I miss something??
> 
> Thanks!!


You are welcome. Moving the splits to a new yard is essential.


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## JoshuaW (Feb 2, 2015)

Okay. Am I also to understand that you make up a queenless starter (which will become the top box) first, then it is ready for successive batches?

Also, I see the rotation of brood to be: 1) eggs in the middle box, then 2) put in the top where it draws up nurse bees and is sealed, then 3) moved to the bottom box and out for extra nucs (with the foragers). Empty comb in the middle, repeat. 4 frames of emerging brood will cover 12 frames of the 15-frame builder hive, which is 80%. So, how do you figure the number of frames of sealed brood to leave in the hive to maintain nurse population? 

I'm studying this pretty hard because I don't have time to make swarm boxes every week and I really like rearing queens, so I can't tell you how grateful I am that you've shared this.


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

JoshuaW said:


> Okay. Am I also to understand that you make up a queenless starter (which will become the top box) first, then it is ready for successive batches?
> 
> Also, I see the rotation of brood to be: 1) eggs in the middle box, then 2) put in the top where it draws up nurse bees and is sealed, then 3) moved to the bottom box and out for extra nucs (with the foragers). Empty comb in the middle, repeat. 4 frames of emerging brood will cover 12 frames of the 15-frame builder hive, which is 80%. So, how do you figure the number of frames of sealed brood to leave in the hive to maintain nurse population?
> 
> I'm studying this pretty hard because I don't have time to make swarm boxes every week and I really like rearing queens, so I can't tell you how grateful I am that you've shared this.


No the queen less starter is a stand alone unit as are the cell builders.

The number of frames of brood in the cell builders is somewhat dependent on their growth rate. In the peak of the season, I may have to remove more brood to keep ahead of them. As opposed to the beginning or end of the season when I am trying to maintain the population.


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## Clayton Huestis (Jan 6, 2013)

Joe can you explain your care for your cell starters?


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## JSL (Sep 22, 2007)

Clayton Huestis said:


> Joe can you explain your care for your cell starters?


The starters are simply free flying queenless units. I make them up an graft into them the same day. They are good as starters for a week, maybe two. It all depends on how they hold up. They can be replenished with brood and bees, but I find they do not work as well after that. I prefer to just go ahead and make up a new one. I generally do not feed them. I just make sure they have plenty of stores when I make them up.


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## rkereid (Dec 20, 2009)

Really enjoyed the article!


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## tpope (Mar 1, 2015)

How do you utilize the starters after their week or two as starters?


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