Queen Rearing
Richard Wahl
In the April 2022 issue, I spoke about increasing your hive count and made the assumption that any splits with eggs and brood would result in a new queen being developed by the split off nuc. Left to their own devices this is usually what the bees do as long as there are adequate recently hatched eggs (larva) in the split from which a new queen cell and queen can be made. Often bees in the newly split off nuc will make more than one queen cell and if left unattended the first to emerge will open and destroy any other queen cells before the others have a chance to emerge.
Bees in a queenless nuc are eager to get a new queen and may not always choose the youngest hatched larva from which to make a queen cell often dependent on the room they have to make a cell around the chosen larva or egg. After three days as an egg there are only about three more days as a larva during which a viable queen cell can be made. As a result the first queen to emerge may not be the best queen that the bees can produce. If a larva that is a day or two older is chosen for a queen cell it may not have had as much time being fed royal jelly and therefore not be the strongest and most viable queen the nuc could produce. The earliest hatched larva that had an ample royal jelly diet from the time of its hatching will need a day or two more before being capped and also for its subsequent emergence. It would most likely be killed by the later larva developed queen that emerged a day or two sooner. If the nuc is left alone the beekeeper is none the wiser and must accept whatever queen cell the bees chose to give the opportunity to emerge first. But what can the beekeeper do if a few extra queens are desired beyond those that will be staying with the newly split off nuc? Just as there are several ways to increase your hive count using the natural tendencies of bees to want to continue as a viable organism, additional queens can also be gained by using several different techniques to encourage the bees to make more than one queen.
Queen Grafting
Four or five years ago I tried queen grafting. A day prior to the actual graft I removed three brood frames from hives and placed them in a five frame nuc box sitting over an open screened bottom box. The fourth frame had nectar and pollen stores on it while the fifth middle frame was empty and would later be replaced with the queen rearing frame. That screened bottom box held a soaking wet sponge to provide a water source while the nuc bees were held captive overnight. It also provided good ventilation on a hot June day. I felt this overnight stay without a queen would encourage the enclosed brood caring bees to produce more royal jelly in support of the queen cells that I would introduce the next day. On the very next warm June day I set up a spot near my hives and proceeded to move twenty small larvae into queen cups which were then moved into a queen rearing frame. After choosing two frames loaded with eggs and small larva from adjacent hives, I used what is called a Chinese grafting tool to move the very small larva into plastic queen cups. The grafting tool is a small pen like device that has a flexible thin plastic tip which slides down the side of a cell and under the chosen larva. Once the larva is on the tip and extracted from the cell it is placed on the bottom of a queen cup where a spring-loaded plunger, activated like the top of an ink pen, pushes the larva onto the bottom of the queen cup. Slipping the end of a Chinese grafting tool under the smallest possible larva and retrieving it without rolling the larva in the royal jelly is a bit of a challenge and takes a sharp eye.
If the larva is rolled it will normally die as its breathing orifice is only on one side at this stage. Normally the smallest larva are close to unhatched eggs that will soon hatch and become larva. I kept a warm damp towel close by to cover larva already placed in cups so they would not dry out as I am sure I was a bit slow during my first time tries. When I had my twenty queen cup frame ready I replaced it with the empty frame in the nuc and also opened the nuc so the over-night enclosed bees could now come and go. I also provided this queen rearing nuc with sugar syrup as nectar sources can vary during the Summers here in SE Michigan. It takes sixteen days for an egg that was designated to become a queen to mature and emerge as a queen. Paying close attention to the calendar I knew my selected larvae had spent three days as eggs and were already four or five days old when chosen to be moved to the queen cups removing this time from the sixteen-day period. Allowing for an additional eleven or twelve days before emergence, I made sure to watch the calendar and separate individual queen cells to their own nucs on the tenth day after the small larva collection to be sure I moved the collective queen cells before any could emerge and destroy the others. There is a critical queen pupa development period from ten to thirteen days after the egg is laid (six to nine days after very small larva selection) where care must be taken to not jostle the queen cell. Doing so could harm the developing queen. To my pleasant surprise I was rewarded with 10 queen cells that were moved to their own individual nucs just before emerging. I was pleased with a 50% success rate on my first try and sold several queens as well as a few nucs during that first trial Summer.
As a small hobby beekeeper I am not after a large increase in my hive population, but did use the same method to try for ten new queens the following year. I had a lower success rate resulting in three queen cells and three subsequent queens out of ten grafts. I feel this was attributed to an earlier in the season attempt when outside temperatures were a lot cooler. That may have resulted in the moved larva not being kept warm enough through the process. If I try this again in the future (earlier in the season on a cool day) I will move inside a warm room or inside a warmed truck when grafting. Since that first attempt I have begun a different method of raising queens which is not dependent on outside temperature, water availability, warm towel moisture or seasonal variability.
Queens from Splits
Hives that come through Winter with a strong population are good candidates for a split. In addition to adding to the beekeeper’s hive count this is also conducive to the reduction in the possibility that the hive will swarm. The beekeeper can take advantage of their bee’s natural desire to have a queen and encourage the making of more than one queen in each split. The first key requirement is to move several frames covered in eggs, larva and capped brood to the split off nuc or hive. These are the frames with the most newly hatched and worker/nurse bees that will make and provide an ample supply of royal jelly for any anticipated queen cells that will be made. Choose at least two frames from your best traits’ hive to assist the bees in choosing their queen cells. Find at least two cells on each frame with the smallest larva and using a flat end screwdriver scrap away the bottom edge of the comb of that cell and two or three cells below it. This makes room for the bees to make a larger queen cell in those spots although destroying the nearby larva. Choose cells that are a few inches apart so that the cells can later be covered by a push in cage. With a bit of luck the bees will make several queen cells on different frames that can be moved into separate nucs.
To keep the bees from making adjacently joined queen cells with two adjacent larva, I also carefully remove the larva on both the left and right side of the chosen cell. Once these frames are placed in a nuc it becomes critical to watch the calendar and at about ten or eleven days after larvae cell scratching inspect the frames and use push in cages to keep emerging queens separated. I also like to check the scratched larva locations in two or three days to see that new queen cells are being made. Often by this time cells are capped as queen cell capping occurs around five and a half days after the egg was laid. If the bees establish queen cells on more than one frame, one of those frames can be moved to another nuc with additional brood and pollen/nectar frames to continue the process in an additional nuc. I normally scrape two locations for queen cells on two different frames which ultimately allows for the possibility of four queens getting started from one nuc.
Gaining Those Extra Queens
Push in cages can be inserted at any point after the queen cells are capped. To get attendant bees to leave the area of the queen cell I find that just blowing on the queen cell area causes the bees to leave so that the cage does not also capture attendant bees; although this may not be a big concern if a few bees are also under the cage. It is easier to spot an open queen cell and emerged queen if there are no other bees under the cage. I like to wait as long as possible to place the cage since the fastidious bees will clean up the outside area where cells were damaged by the push-in cage.
The cage could then fall away from the frame when trying to remove it. To avoid this, I sandwich the cage between two frames and remove those two frames at the same time keeping them together to sandwich the caged queen cells. Laying the frames on a horizontal surface, the top sandwiching frame can be lifted from the cages on the bottom frame and inspected for emerged queens. Use care in this step since if the cage or cages stay attached to the top sandwiching frame and new queens have hatched, they can move very quickly and be hard to catch. Often one queen will have emerged while the other has not, and the newly emerged queen can be moved or the remaining queen cell can be moved to another nuc. I like to leave the first hatched queen with the starter nuc and remove the remaining queen cell frame to a second nuc while adding a brood frame or two and pollen/nectar frames from an established hive to this new nuc. I have successfully gotten four queens started from one nuc using this method. Two frames, each with two scratched cells are separated into two nucs. Once queen cells appear and each first queen emerges the remaining unemerged cell frame is then moved to its own nuc.
Making Push-in Queen Cages
The process of making your own queen cages is not that difficult. I had made my own screened bottom boards, so I had a few remnants of ⅛ inch hardware cloth left over. ⅛ inch hardware cloth is nothing more than a ⅛ inch wire mesh and can be found in rolls at most hardware or big box stores. Using a wire snips, I start with a piece that is cut to a 3½ by five inch rectangle. On the long side I make a one inch cut that is ½ inch in from the end on each of the four corners. On the short side I make a one inch cut that is one inch in from each side on all four corners. Discard the one inch by ½ inch piece from each corner. This allows for a ½ inch bend-in overlap area on each of the four corners. Using a block of wood I bend the short sides and the ½ inch overlaps to a 90 degree fold at the one inch point up the side. I then bend the long side with its bent ends over a short piece of wood to get a cage with one inch sides and about a three inch by 1½ inch top side.
Even with pieces of scrap hardware cloth where the wires do not run perfectly square, cutting squarely to the measurements and folding accurately makes a nice cage. Occasionally if one side is a bit deeper than the others, I simply trim the excess off with the wire snips to make each side the same depth.
Conclusion
If you have a hive or two that has come through the Winter with a lot of bees and is a strong candidate for a possible swarm, a split may reduce that possibility. While doing the split, the production of several new queens can easily be accomplished with the method suggested above. There is not a much more rewarding site than to inspect a frame in a nuc and see a brand new gorgeous queen cavorting around inside a homemade queen cage; unless you allow for the sight of a fully capped honey frame or two in your first season. There are other more efficient methods to increase the number of queens in your apiary if you need to produce many queens. I have found this to be an acceptable method for a hobby beekeeper like myself who only wants a few additional queens from that excellent honey producing hive, or that hive that seems to have superior traits and a superior queen and you have doubled or quadrupled your chances of getting that super queen you are after. Your beekeeping experience could vary based on your environmental conditions, experience or state of your hives. But if you are looking to add just a few queens to your apiary, give this method a try.
