Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => GENERAL BEEKEEPING - MAIN POSTING FORUM. => Topic started by: adamant on July 01, 2012, 08:02:18 am

Title: what warrants re queening?
Post by: adamant on July 01, 2012, 08:02:18 am
i read b4 that some re queen each season regardless of the queens performance! well i have 6 hives on a pallet and 2 -3 of those are bubbling over with bees. a beek suggested that i re queen the rest because the queen could be slacking. can this be true? 

i am going out there today. what are somethings i should be looking for!
Title: Re: what warrants re queening?
Post by: FRAMEshift on July 01, 2012, 09:06:54 am
Blind re-queening would be foolish.  You want to keep queens that perform well and make new queens from the eggs of the best queens. If you don't see brood or you have a hive that is dwindling over time, consider re-queening on a case by case basis.

Re-queening is not a simple process that can be done mechanically.  If there is a performing queen in the hive, you would have to find and remove her before you could successfully add a new queen.  That is a time-consuming process and is not worth the trouble if the existing queen is doing well. 
Title: Re: what warrants re queening?
Post by: adamant on July 01, 2012, 09:37:04 am
Blind re-queening would be foolish.  You want to keep queens that perform well and make new queens from the eggs of the best queens. If you don't see brood or you have a hive that is dwindling over time, consider re-queening on a case by case basis.

Re-queening is not a simple process that can be done mechanically. 

elaborate further please
Title: Re: what warrants re queening?
Post by: Joe D on July 01, 2012, 10:18:53 am
Like FRAMEshift said it isn't just putting a new queen in for no reason if your queen is doing a good job there is no need to requeen.  Even if you don't have a queen but have a laying worker and you put in a new queen she will stand a good chance of being killed.  If you have a hive with no brood and you check again in a few days and there is still no brood then you can add a queen.  Don't just re queen to be re queening if not needed.  Good luck.



Joe
Title: Re: what warrants re queening?
Post by: yockey5 on July 01, 2012, 01:30:23 pm
"what are somethings i should be looking for!"

1st be sure a queen is present.
2nd be sure the frames are not honey bound.
3rd look for a good solid brood pattern.
4th is the hive disease free?

Can be a seasonal problem, flow problem, pollen, etc.