# Queen breeders will this work?



## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

I bet it works fine. The only problem I can think of at the moment is so many nucs in a row. But since they are different colors without being a repeating pattern, and with different level of entrances, I think it should work out. Good luck, let us know how it works out.


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

Nice I think it should work fine.


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## Richard Cryberg (May 24, 2013)

Might work better if those red strips were painted green. Bees see red as black. Also might not make any difference. I simply do not know for sure.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Wholly Guacamole! That is even more bold than the one I built last year. It is similar though. It worked just OK for mated return. But I really like it for a queen 'bank' When I had a mated queen on standard frames, I would just move her and two frames to a chamber. Got her out of the mating nuc to free it up to accept a new virgin without actually banking her in a queen cage. I'd post a photo, but photobecket has cut me off the free limit of photos. Not sure if I want to start paying for it just to share ideas. Here is my facebook link. Go to my photos.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Miller-Compound-HoneyBees-and-Agriculture/256954971040510


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

Here , I used tinypics for photo


















With rim for quart feeders:










Plywood top is pretty light weight:









With rubber mat is not really necessary .

My entry holes are on both sides and seperated as far apart as possible. Color marked with painted disk excluders.


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## AramF (Sep 23, 2010)

Carni queens might be ok with that close of proximity, since they do not drift as much. With italians I would be a little causious. I suggest you make different entrace methods, like maybe a small landing board on every other one for stronger association between entrances. 

I personally would not do this because I am certain that even if queens do not drift, some agressive subset of worker bees from one nuc will hunt the queen from another one and kill her. Just too close for my comfort.

As an alternative for you, I experimented with queen castles this year; you know, the 4-way facing ones. They work pretty well, but the north facing queens delayed laying by 3-4 days. East or south facing ones were laying first, usually on 10th day.


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## Myron Denny (Sep 27, 2009)

Did any of these ideas work? Were there problems that need to be aired? These are both very different from traditional queen rearing!

One of our group wants to build a screened in "mating area" to limit the chances of queens getting lost, has this been tried?


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## JRG13 (May 11, 2012)

I think I've heard of screened areas for mating but not sure on the success rate. I've heard drones need to be flying at a good clip really chasing the queen to get ready to mate, hard to see that happening in a screened in area.


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## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

Screened areas have been tried by different people at different times and there have not been proven matings. Queens mate above 25 feet AGL so the cost of an area enclosure would be as much as the equipment to do IS.


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

darnell and lauri - I am like Myron, please give an update if you have tried them. 

JR and AR - Hmm, makes sense but by golly we had paper wasps get into a tent one time and those things moved at a fairly good clip just coming off the tent walls. Yikes still get cold sweat from that. Another great idea burnt in flames before I got to test it. 

Myron - I was thinking the same idea. Wondering about a screened in area as well or one of those large screened beach tents with just all screen on the sides. Raise a bunch of drones and stick that virgin queen in there. Seems like the numbers would win in the end, but she might be overwhelmed by a bunch rather than having the fastest catch her. Still might be something I try when I get things going real good. Just to watch what happens while drinking a cool one.


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## darrellva (Feb 2, 2011)

Ok update on mating hotel I built. I only grafted 9 cells for the test run of the hotel cause that was all I needed to finish up the year with requeening and making up the last of the NUCS I am taking into winter. Out of 9 queens that emerged in the hotel I have 8 that mated and returned to there home and began laying. Not sure what happened to the 9 one but I figure 8 out of 9 was not to bad. Also I put the all 9 of them side by side cause I wanted to see if they would come back to there correct section when placed side by side and no empty compartments between them. I plan to have several of these built and in use next spring and after seeing how well they did I think I will be ok with it.


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

Darrellva - would you mind posting the dimensions of the individual cells (inside measurements)?

Am I mistaken or is that constructed with 2x4 or 2x6 wood. 

And if you don't mind, one last question. Did you see any difference in brood building and such with bottom versus top entrance holes?

I like that design. Thanks for sharing.


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## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

Lauri, You always do everything so awesome!


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## darrellva (Feb 2, 2011)

Marsh,
I will have to check tomorrow I can't remember off the top of my head on measurements. 

The box itself is made from 3/4x10"x5ft. The bottom is just a piece of plywood. and the divider boards are 1/4" plywood.

I did not notice any difference in the patterns from the entrance location all where center of frames.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I prefer boxes I can move, but that should work fine as long as you don't need to move it...


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

Lauri = What about dimensions of your breeder nuc? 

Do you see any issues with differences in brood building in top versus bottom holes. 

Really like both those ideas.


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Darrellva I've had problems with queens drifting with entrances further away than that and just as well marked, I've even seen virgins return & get balled as soon as they enter the wrong one.

However, the proof is in the pudding, (do they say that in the US?) 8 out of 9 is a fine result. However I'd still be a bit cautious before building a bunch of them.

In Lauri's pic, she has alternated the entrances front and back, which separates the entrances twice as widely than each nuc having an entrance front and back. A nuc your size only needs one entrance and in fact is better with only one entrance, so it could be something to consider. Visually, I think Lauri's nuc is more confusing to the returning queen when they have the plastic entrance guards on, than when they don't. Although I'm not a bee so who knows.


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

Lauri or anyone - Do you have plans for the style of top feeder you are using? 

Is there a problem with those top feeders with holes in the lid of dripping syrup into the bottom of the hive?


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

My first setup was almost exactly like this, except it used 3 deeps in each chamber. The trick was the tops and bottoms had to be bee-tight. I think if I was to build it again, I'd have made double partitions an inch apart so that the tops were easier to close without bees from other chambers getting together and fighting. My boxes had single alternating entrances like Laurie's.

while it did work OK, I chose to not make any more, as it is a LOT of wood to use for something that gets used 2 months out of the year, and I don't want lots of storage, which is more costly than the wood!

Ultimately, I went to 3 vertical slots in 10-frame boxes, so that they could be used for 3 x 3-frame mating nucs, 2 x 5-frame double nucs, 7 / 3 queen isolation laying arrangement for grafting / Smith Method / Cell Punch preparation using a queen excluder ("includer" in this case) partition, or as a full 10-frame box. I now make all my boxes like this, as it works out cheaper to have just one kind of box, and they will soon be all mediums for the advantage of just one size of frame. 

This setup, combined with "hive dummies" (empty wooden boxes the size and shape of a frame of comb) allows for excellent volume control, important for raising small nucs late in the year as is common practice for almond pollinator colonies.

I thought about 4 x 2-frame chambers, but decided that I did not want to have to do lots of work all at one time, moving the mating nuc colonies into 5-frame nucs. I wanted the extra time allowed by the 3 x 3-frame arrangement to accomplish this task, just in case anything interrupted my schedule. It seemed that 8-frame boxes had only one option - 2 x 4-frame arrangement, and would require lots of hive dummies to work a small colony up from 2 frames. It just seemed most flexible to go with 10-frame medium boxes with 3 slots and partitions.


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

My question is not about the bee stuff...which all looks great...it is about the domed enclosure.

Is it plastic, is tearing an issue, how is it with wind and who makes them, where to get them and did you put it up or have contractors do it?

So many questions but it looks so useful.

Thanks


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## WBVC (Apr 25, 2013)

Instead of wooden box type hive frame dummies could one use thick styrofoam cut to the right shape.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Foam is a great idea, and I'd glue thin planks onto the sides and a full top bar anyways for added durability. I usually don't bother with the foam because its a lot more setup, and I already have the jigs and fixtures to make hollow box hive dummies, but I wouldn't discourage anyone from using styrofoam in a hive dummy. They are great tools to add to your repertoire. With a small modification, you can make a wooden frame feeder from most of the same jigs and fixtures.


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## darrellva (Feb 2, 2011)

WBVC said:


> My question is not about the bee stuff...which all looks great...it is about the domed enclosure.
> 
> Is it plastic, is tearing an issue, how is it with wind and who makes them, where to get them and did you put it up or have contractors do it?
> 
> ...


The top is framed out of wood like a normal tele cover. Instead of metal on the top I have a stock pile of roofing rubber. It is the stuff they use on flat top buildings for the roof. It don't rip and is not real easy to cut with a utility knife. It is not real light but not real heavy. It weighs little more then metal would. But at over 5ft long I take it on and off by myself no problem. I built the whole thing myself and this year I just set it on one of my 8ft hive stands. Over the winter I plan to build 5 or 6 more and plan to put them on legs so they are free standing. I may also take a little more time on the paint job on the next ones.


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