Paul Hosticka wrote:
 "What is the difference between queens lasting 2 years and 3 months? What is different between 60% loss and 15% loss. We have beekeepers on this list, large and small, in both camps on both issues." 

This morning I spent some time preparing record cards for the coming year. To see what my cards look like, visit Dave Cushman's site Beekeeping and Bee Breeding.  My oldest current queen arrived in a swarm that I collected in June 2013 so she may be older than that.  

The next oldest I found in what  should have been a vacant hive on 16th April 2014. Looking at the brood, they must have been there about 10 days, making this (in my experience) a record for an early swarm. They are savages!  I poured petrol on them in August that year but they survived the experience and are still in residence.

Another queen superseded her mother in August 2013.  They have an excellent temperament and I have taken two nuclei from them to stock the hives of my apprentice in who's apiary they reside, all in top bar hives.

Next is a swarm I took from a bush in the middle of Dorchester on 16th May 2014.  I took a photo of the lady who had called me holding the skep into which I was brushing the bees: no protection and no stings!  They are still doing well and I may take some more honey from them when the dandelions are out. Generally their temper is pretty good, but I may not breed from them as they have a tendency to follow.

Then comes another self-hived swarm dating from the end of June 2014, so she's probably a 2013 girl. They live in a wild flower in a holiday camp close to the sea and the camp managers buy all the honey, putting their own labels on for their customers.

My other 6 hives are from queens that nearly all arrived in swarms. 4 of them hived themselves in spare kit in my back garden!  Living in a terraced house with only a small garden, I don't keep bees at home but there are lots of feral colonies around, four of them in local  churches!

Chris

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