Re Andrew's queen rearing.
 
>I have 2 * 4 frame and 1  * 5 frame nuc. nuc.s
 
>1* 4 framer  is in action , the others are in store ready to go
>So far I have done the following,  placed an old  frame with a fair
>part of the wax missing  2 frames from the centre of the strongest
>colony, this is an attempt to get a large number of drones  in the
>area.
 
You realise that it will be at about 40 days before the drones will hatch and
be mature enough to mate.  This assumes the queen lays in the newly made
drone comb straight away. You will probably get drone comb in the space
provided your conditions are good enough.
 
>I have started a Nuc. with 1 frame of foundation, 1 frame of polen
>and honey, 1 frame with freshly laid eggs and one frame with capped
>brood.
 
>This nuc has been put next to an active colony that has benn moced 6
>inches (150 mm) to the side  so that feild bees will  enter, this
>they have done.
 
That should make it very strong.  In fact, it could get too strong for the
box if your conditions are anyway good.
 
>The next  choice is
 
>to wait for 3 - 4 weeks and see if there is a new queen laying,
 
You will probably have a laying queen by then.  Cannot guarantee what she has
mated with.
 
>look  in the nuc next week end to see if queen cells are there,
 
Yes, you will most likely see queen cells.  Next step?
 
>move the nuc, a few metres / yards away (reason unknown yet)
 
Unknown to me also.  You will lose the field force back to your active colony.
 
>Other  (I'm still on L (Learner) Plates)
 
>Also I have read that this method can give agressive bee's is this so
> and if so why?  is it something to do with the feed of the grubs in
>emergency cells ??
 
Nothing to do with the feeding of the cells.  It is all in the genetics.
Which reminds me, do you know how to tell the difference between chromosomes?
Take off their genes.
 
The reasoning behind this is that you are breeding from a queen that has been,
presumably, open mated.  You have no guarantee as to what she has mated with.
You know that in your part of the world the feral hives are mainly Apis
mellifera mellifera, the old English black bee, and these can be aggressive.
This is compared to Apis mellifera ligustica, the Italian bee which I assume
your queen was breed from.
 
So you are starting with the possibility of having a queen breed from larvae
that is half mellifera mellifera.  When she goes out to mate, she could again
mate with these black bees so the progeny that comes from your new queen now
has a very high percentage of mellifera mellifera.
 
This is where the aggressive part comes from.  Having lived in your area and
kept bees there, I can vouch for the aggressiveness of the feral hives, having
tried to hive a few.
 
>I know this first Queen will not have the full benenfit of the Drones
>that I hope to grow, but I figure the next one shoud have a good
>chance.
 
Remember it will be 40 days before you will get any benefit, if at all, from
your drones.  Your drones will have to compete with others in the area.  I am
assuming that your queen, you are breeding the drones from, was raised from an
AI queen of known parentage.
 
Also, if your Eucalypt is tallowwood, it has to be introduced as tallowwood
does not grow naturally in your part of the world.  There are plantations of
it up your way.  Down in our part of the world, it can produce some pollen but
I have never seen a honey flow off tallowwood.
 
Well, you are probably more confused that when you first put your post on
Bee-L.  Keep going.  Queen rearing is a fascinating business.  As the saying
goes, the more you learn about queen rearing the more you learn that you don't
know anything at all.
 
Trevor Weatherhead
AUSTRALIA