# Breeder queens



## BjornBee (Feb 7, 2003)

I am doing some business projections in regards to pure breeder queens. The ones that cost a couple hundred and up.

Can they be used a second season?

I have also heard about keeping them in nucs to stretch thier egg laying abilities, as this would limit the number of eggs layed. Is this true or urban legend?

Thank you.


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## Fusion_power (Jan 14, 2005)

You can get up to 5 years from a queen if she is properly maintained in a nuc. It requires expert management to do this. Two years is common, 3 years can be done, and you can add another year or two with good management. There are no guarantees of course.

The problem with this is that as a queen gets older, her progeny tend to decline in performance. Also, if you use the same queen for several years, it tends to reduce the genetic variability of the bees you are using. This can be very undesirable with the challenges of beekeeping today.

Fusion


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## BWrangler (Aug 14, 2002)

Hi Guys,

I wouldn't plan on any more than two years for an open mated queen and one year for an AIed queen, especially if the hives have been treated with pesticides.

Regards
Dennis


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## bjerm2 (Jun 9, 2004)

My AI queens only last one year but I also have them head a full hive. Good thought on having her sit in a nuc. I think I might try this since I have nucs on top of full hives for the winter and use this set up during the sumer to keep cranking out queens. I try to flood the area with drones from my AI hives and use the drones for AI for the new queens. I use SMR queens from Glenn Apiaries and have them cross back and forth with NWC queens and drones. Seems to be working well for me.
Dan


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## James Burke (Feb 4, 2002)

I read somewhere that only about 5% of the AI breeder queens ever make it one year.


Jim


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## danno1800 (Mar 13, 2004)

James, I'd be very interested in reading the source about the 5%. This seems very low to me. Can you help me find the source? Thanks, Dan


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## loggermike (Jul 23, 2000)

The AI SMRs I got from Glenns (select-not breeder grade) were gone 3 months later(expected).The Russians went through the winter and were superceded the following April.But I was able to get all the queens raised that I needed from all of them.I made up singles to introduce them into.All young bees with emerging brood ,fed and protected from robbing.Used the push in cage.


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## James Burke (Feb 4, 2002)

I believe it was on one of the breeders web pages that I read about the 5%. I don't want to mention any names because I'm not for sure...sorry.


Jim


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## Rob Mountain (Dec 8, 2003)

>>I read somewhere that only about 5% of the AI breeder queens ever make it one year.<<

Not correct.


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## Hook (Jun 2, 2002)

I got a couple AI queen a while back, and they were superceded in about three months. I am no expert by any means, but I think it became an acceptance issue with the bees I introduced them into. Both had brood, and hatched a frame or two, but the bees never really accepted them. The hives seemed to move slowly. Once I removed them, and let the supercedure take place, they took off. I did save the two queens, and used them to graft from. All of those turned out ok. 
This is one of the reasons I want to try II, because if the bees come from their own environment, maybe they will be accepted more readily.?


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