There has been a lot of discussion about 2 queen colonies, pros and cons. A
few years ago I was operating that way and am going back to it for a quick
increase and still get a honey flow. The reason for not running 2 queen
colonies for a few years was to get our RV park built. It is intensive, if
you don't want to pay attention to details don't do it.
 
This is how I did it.
 
1. overwintered colonies: I ordered a few queens to make large splits (1
full box of bees os in about 2 to 3 weeks will take another super) around
the 1st of May (that is about 2 months before the honey flow here) Kept
feeding and medicating until the 1st week in June.
 
2. For queen rearing count back10 to 15 days. Grafting seems the only way
to get good queend cells in this part of the country, at least that is the
only way that I have been able the get good results.
 
3. 5 days later split some brood, mostly capped, over a queen excluder,
come back 5 days later. This where it is optional. You can leave the brood
on the same colony, but I prefer to put them on a bottom board and move
them to a different yard more work but a more even split. The next day take
queen cells to splits and if not sure put cell protectors on them. Then you
can go back to put a screen board between the colony on the top and bottom
3 or 4 days later. The way I have read that 16 days for a queen to hatch
from egg to hatching, approx. another 10 days for a laying queen. Our honey
flow starts anywhere from end of June to July 15 depending on the weather
patterns. With the screen board and the heat below the young queen will lay
a large amount of eggs.
 
4. This where systems differ. I wait until the honey flow is about to
started before taking off the top queen with that box of brood and setting
it on a bottom board in the same apiary, or if you feel that the yard will
not support that may colonies then move them elsewhere. 5 days before doing
this I go out and put queen excluders between the bottom brood chambers.
Then when you take the top colony off you can put the queen from the bottom
colony in the super she's in on the bottom board. Put the queen excluder on
the bottom brood chamber, leaving an upper entrance with from cedar shakes
or door shims. Then put your honey supers on. Most of the field bees will
go back to the orginal colony. If the flow is good you can also put a queen
excluder with a honey super on the splits and some times you get honey.
 
The other discussion about the pros and cons of queen excluders. Here we
use them because our honey flow is on and off and this gives the queen time
to lay in the honey supers. Until I started using queen excluders I got
very little honey some years. We are not in a high producing area.
 
5. I also kept raising a few queens but you can order, and at the end of
the honey flow I put an empty super that has been extracted with approx. 5
to 6 frames of pollen in the center on top of the queen excluder. Then pull
that super off put on a bottom board move to another location wait until
the next day before giving them a queen. On the orginal colony I put the
same type of super with 3 to 4 frames of pollen. But you must feed sugar
syrup if you use this method. By the time winter arrives it will be built
up enough with young bees.
 
#5 is not for every part of the country. We winter indoors and can get away
with a little less feed.
 
This is not a new method it is a few twists and turns. I read about 2 queen
system in a New Zealand book, they called them tops.
 
There was also a queen rearing method used in New Zealand on the south
island. Call Queen-Cell Raising - My Way by H. Cloake. I have used this
method and it works for me.
 
I know there will be more experienced beekeepers out there with different
ideas. Please put them forward so we can all benefit.
 
Thank You
 
Ivan McGill
Prince George, B.C.