# Ready Date Calendar



## jbraun (Nov 13, 2013)

I just ran into this info on an old thread. Does anyone use these? I'm going to start rearing next season. Is this something that will be helpful for me in my first season or should I get some experience first? I've a poor memory so anything I can do to help myself with that I do.


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

The one that I use is from this site: http://www.thebeeyard.org/queen-rearing-calendar/

It will automatically fill in from the date you give it and you can print it out and fill in other information. Keeps the records pretty good for smaller operations.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

I have I tend to lose track of days and end up checking too early and then get all worried lol I haven't figured out a good record keeping system yet so they definitely help me


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## jbraun (Nov 13, 2013)

Harley, I've noticed you are a year earlier than I am. Have you started queen rearing yet? 

I just started a separate sheet on each hive last examination. I only did a fall weight as I lost my only hive tool, sucked! I've got 7 hives this year and as I said i have a poor memory anyway. Record keeping should help with at least peace of mind.


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

I raised my own queen 2 weeks after I got my first nuc but it was by accident. LOL They started swarm preps so I split out queen cells into nucs. Turned a package and a 8 fram med nuc into 8 small colonies my first yr. I believe I ended up splitting them too thin and lost all 8 colonies part of that was due to the fact that during that fall I was putting in a new house and neglected to check stores until it was too late. This yr I got two nucs and didn't like the qeen in one so I piched her and rasied a queen from my good hive. Next yr I plan to start raising more in split box nucs palmer style to expand my apiary.


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## WilliamsHoneyBees (Feb 17, 2010)

If running multiple mating nuc cycles in the same yard I found it more helpful to use colored push pins. Figuring a three week cycle and today being October 17th. Say I planted queen cells in a few mating nucs today. I would use red push pins, for example, and mark in a note book or my phone that the queens would be ready November 7th. The next two weeks you would choose different colored pins. This makes it quick and easy to walk through a mating yard and check all the "red pins". 

(I use dropbox for everything bee related, I can make updates from my phone or my desktop and all the information is where I need it when I need it.)


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## Harley Craig (Sep 18, 2012)

pine_ridge_farms said:


> If running multiple mating nuc cycles in the same yard I found it more helpful to use colored push pins. Figuring a three week cycle and today being October 17th. Say I planted queen cells in a few mating nucs today. I would use red push pins, for example, and mark in a note book or my phone that the queens would be ready November 7th. The next two weeks you would choose different colored pins. This makes it quick and easy to walk through a mating yard and check all the "red pins".
> 
> (I use dropbox for everything bee related, I can make updates from my phone or my desktop and all the information is where I need it when I need it.)



you got a sample of dropbox notes you could share do you use some kind of spreadsheet? that sounds like an easy way to do things.


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## WilliamsHoneyBees (Feb 17, 2010)

I just have a "text file" created, nothing special just simple notes. I don't use the push pins much anymore as I have all the mating nucs in one yard on the same schedule, so basically each week I go to a different mating yard. But if using pins, 

Example
May 6th, Blue Pins, 32 nucs, (Grey Cells Breeder XYZ, Green Cells Breeder XY) Ready Date May 27. Update 24 good queens pulled. 
May 13th, Red Pins, etc.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I use Burke's ready date calendars...

I buy them from Jim:
[email protected] 

They used to be available from Betterbee, but I don't see them there anymore...

I use them on hives as well as nucs. It's already designed to do a lot of information and you can encode even more by using colors and combinations etc.


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## pahammer (Oct 8, 2012)

*http://jarsa.net/burkes.pdf*


Michael Bush said:


> I use Burke's ready date calendars...
> 
> I buy them from Jim:
> [email protected]
> ...


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

I also use the queen rearing calendar shown in post # 2. 

But this year they _changed_ the date for removal of cells. In my opinion, that is _way_ too close for comfort. I regularly get a few hatching a day early-depending on temps & of course the age of my larva. A newly hatched larva graft and one that hatched 15 hours earler will kill you if you are not careful. 

Every batch of grafts/grid cells- I print these out and *highlight* the day of removal. They go right on my clip board you see here. 

As I print the calendar up, the newest ones go behind the older ones on the clip board so the _one on top is the first to hatch_.

After they hatch or are all placed, that sheet goes at the back of the stack and is placed upside down. Only calendars that are current are face up.

Notes can also be added later if I get a really impressive batch or a poor one. I can go back and reflect on the different circumstances that may have effected the queens. I actually keep these notes for a couple years and queens with very good longevity or especially impressive performance can be traced back to their origin for review.











Notes on here show the grid system was used, I placed 2 frames into two different starters & the grid apparently still had unhatched eggs so it was placed overnight in a hive for hatching. A nice back up in case one of the starters failed or had a poor draw out on the cells. I can rectify that problem in the starter and give them the remaining newly hatched larva.

I can also go back and review photos with dates and check the graft calendar for more info.
That's something I generally do in winter when I have some time to analize stuff and think about my plans for the next season. 
I may or may not be able to determine issues, but it's things like this that can help me realize details I may have missed at the time in summer, like recognize minute strengths or weaknesses in certain lines or breeder queens.

Here is a photo of the cells from the queen rearing calander shown in the first photo:










This photo of a newly hatched virgin from those cells.










And again after she was mated and started laying:










All info for that late summer batch- I can go back and refer to at any time..even two or three years from now. You can see my photos are as importaint as my notes for good detail.


Heres my worst take & most ugly cells of the season..but still, the few resulting queens were very good.
6-28-14 right in the middle of my main flow. But by marking my hives with tape with the queen lineage and date of placement, I can trace them back to a frame like this if I wish.










Here are cells very early in the season photo taken 4-6-14..crazy early for my area. But this spring was kind & I had the drones due to overwintered extra large well fed hives. I'll keep track of these queens to see if indeed this is a good idea by not only their performance but also their longevity. 

I don't accept someones else's opinion (in other parts of the country with a different strain of bees) that this can or cannot be done. I want to know if it can be done, exactly what circumstances must be met to be reliably successful. Only my own tests will determine that.










If you want good numbers of early drones, feed your large hives a good protein suppliment in August/September & again in early February. The same goes for breeder colonies for especially good juicy grafts.

A strong spring 3 or 4 deep hive will do the trick











Some may think this is all not necessary, but this system has made me better and more observant, therefore more successful in a shorter period of time. 

When it comes to managing bees & especially rearing queens..
_
DETAILS MATTER_.

If photos and notes help a person recognize & remember those details, I think it is worth the time and effort.


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## TWall (May 19, 2010)

Lauri said:


> I also use the queen rearing calendar shown in post # 2.
> 
> But this year they _changed_ the date for removal of cells. In my opinion, that is _way_ too close for comfort. I regularly get a few hatching a day early-depending on temps & of course the age of my larva. A newly hatched larva graft and one that hatched 15 hours earler will kill you if you are not careful.
> 
> Every batch of grafts/grid cells- I print these out and *highlight* the day of removal. They go right on my clip board you see here.


Lauri,

I had not noticed that, I just blindly followed the calendar. That helps to explain some of my results this year. I was thinking I had slipped in one larvae much older than others. I guess I was, maybe just not as old as I thought.

Thanks,

Tom


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

I hand-printed mine, and have masters made up for copying. One is laminated and stays in the bee shed. Mine are a bit more detailed than Laurie's. A block for traits known, % behaviors, open mated or I.I., Each one gets put into a plastic folder and goes in the lid, and a copy goes with me back to the office. There is lots of other paperwork in the bee shed - yard sheets, bee family histories, buildup rate weight charts, etc.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The nice thing about the ready date calendars is they are weather proof, last well even in sunlight for years...

To keep my batches straight, I start with the date I expect the queen to be laying and keep that date on all of the places those queen cells go... from the starter to the nucs etc.


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## Daniel Y (Sep 12, 2011)

I get multiple batches of queens going. All overlapping in just where they are in the process. So far I use the sheet in the photo above. printing a different one for each batch of cells. Combine with that that many of my cells are wild cells and the exact day the egg was laid is not known. this results in a system where all cells are checked on in a timely manner. moved to an incubator at an unknown age and I don't really know for certain any age until those cells emerge.

The overall effects my queen rearing sort of has two sides to it. the cell production and harvesting. and the cell emerging and virgin queen handling.

The cell side of the process is a huge headache at best. I highly suggest you start with a process that has a known age of the eggs right form the get go. It is one of my targeted improvements for this coming spring. Destroyed cells because you guessed at an emergence date wrong is not fun to find.


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