3jan96  Happy New Year!
REQUEENING <requeen>
 
THIS MESSAGE IS FOR THE NEW HOBBY B-KEEPER ONLY.
 
1. This is a my 36th cosecutive year as a beekeeper.
I have never requeened, feeling that the bees know
more about it than I do. (Richard Taylor, who has been
keeping bees longer than I, actually made a similar statement
one year in his monthly column and was naturally? immediately
excoriated by Southern queen breeders.)
 
2. Requeening theory: a new queen is more vigorous than the
old, will start laying more and faster leading to a greater
hive population resulting in greater honey production per
hive.
 
3. Last April I helped a man, who's been keeping bees for
about five years and believes in requeening every year,
requeen more than 10 hives. His "old" one-year queens he
started to pinch until I asked for them.
 
3. My hive population jumped from 12 to 20 hives.
 
4. Shud U requeen? U pays yer money and U take ur cherce.
 
Jack the B-man