Alternative Queen Rearing
There are many methods of queen rearing and once you get the general idea, many different ideas are possible. Below are two concepts that I’ve seen and the people who use them, claim they work. I used the first method in my first year beekeeping and it seemed to work fine back then. However, I currently use the starter finisher/method queen rearing method these days simply I usually want more than 10 cells.
The method above has been claimed to be ok for a small number of queens. I would suggest no more than 10 but it all depends on the hive population and nurse bee population.
The method below is very interesting to me. I have not tried it, but I have little doubt that it works. I found this method online and was intrigued by it so I designed the diagram to illustrate and to make the concepts more concrete. I’m considering trying it…
March 9, 2018 @ 5:55 am
That queen rearing method with the 6 inch pipe connection looks great . I may try it just connecting 2 deeps instead and put it up on a stand. No more lifting heavy deeps to get down to the brood nest in the starter finisher hive. Probably not as many defensive bees with this method you are not taking a large hive apart to get to the brood nest. As the season progresses you may be able to put some shallow honey supers on top of each deep.
March 9, 2018 @ 9:11 am
Agree with your comment. There are a lot of positive elements in this model. The main problem for some is that you need specialized equipment and many beekeepers prefer to stick with standard equipment. Two 6 frame nucs and 6 frame builder is 18 frames total, which is almost the same as 2 standard boxes. If your boxes are heavily popluated, that middle queen builder should be bursting, almost to the point of swarming. Which is a good thing.
Yes, a stand in this case would be essential. I forgot to add that.