Beemaster's International Beekeeping Forum

BEEKEEPING LEARNING CENTER => REQUEENING & RAISING NEW QUEENS => Topic started by: Rabbitdog on May 23, 2005, 01:20:04 pm

Title: when to requeen
Post by: Rabbitdog on May 23, 2005, 01:20:04 pm

I have 3 hives that are mean as dog snot.  I treat them exactly the same as my others hives but they attack from the get go and do not stop until you leave.  Sometimes, they are so bad that I can't even go through the brood box properly.  Even the ones that don't take wing to attack, will boil over and crawl in every crack.  Even though they make lots of honey, I've had enough.  I've begun to avoid them so I'm ready to spend some bucks and requeen.
Honey production at this point is no concern for me.  I'll take what I get and if I get nothing more, I'll be content.  Who has the best queens as far as gentleness.  Also, could/should I order them now or wait until fall?
Thanks much.

Title: when to requeen
Post by: amymcg on May 23, 2005, 02:10:30 pm

I think a number of people are going to tell you that if they are too difficult to work, then you should go ahead and requeen.

As far as gentleness goes, Italians are supposed to be the most gentle.

Are all three of these hives in one yard together? If so, it's possible that you might have some animals bugging them at night making them agressive. Seems odd that all three hives would be hard to handle.  If this is the case, requeening might not help you.

Title: when to requeen
Post by: Michael Bush on May 23, 2005, 02:38:24 pm

I've seen hot and gentle bees of every race.  Pick one that will do well in your climate and get some queens.  I'd go for Carni's in the north and Italian cordovans in the South if gentleness is your main concern.

I would requeen a hot hive.  Mean bees take all the fun out of beekeeping.

Title: when to requeen
Post by: stilllearning on May 24, 2005, 07:58:52 pm

I would suggest you requeen immediatly ( as soon as you can get queens)
R Weaver at Navasota Texas has one of the gentlest queens, their
All American an Itallian hybrid is very good ( they cant keep up with
orders for them) they do not have any AHB problems.
They spend a lot of time researching their bees, at least vist their website.
        :lol:

Title: when to requeen
Post by: Michael Bush on May 25, 2005, 10:42:29 am

>R Weaver at Navasota Texas has one of the gentlest queens, their
All American an Itallian hybrid is very good ( they cant keep up with
orders for them) they do not have any AHB problems.

From my experience, from 1974 to 2001 I would have agreed to this for both Weavers.

Title: when to requeen
Post by: Barny on May 25, 2005, 11:06:33 am

This is a side note about the Weavers.  I think they took it real hard this year due to mites and whatnot and have lost a lot of their infrastructure.  Heard it throught the grapvine...

Title: when to requeen
Post by: amymcg on May 25, 2005, 11:53:59 am

Frank Lagrant ships his queens all over the place. He might have some. http://members.aol.com/lagrants  Don't let the fact that he hasn't updated his website deter you. He's a nice guy and his operation is going strong.