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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Chuck Norton <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 3 Feb 2004 21:54:31 -0500
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To The List:

Perhaps a queen breeders could respond to this writers opinion below as I
am neither a commercial package bee supplier nor a professional queen
breeder. I do raise a few queens for my own benefit and others who may
purchase queens when available and for fall requeening. As with many on
the BEE-L I also sell splits in the spring. I have been using queens
purchased each spring from a Georgia package and queen breeder that has
gentle and productive Italians when making spring splits as I have hives
on pollination next to rows of strawberries that are being picked by the
growers customers.

After much thought, I have decided to integrate the Minnesota Hygienic
lines developed by Dr. Marla Spivak into my operations. By the way, Dr.
Spivak will be speaking at the Spring Conference of the North Carolina
State Beekeepers Association in New Bern, North Carolina March 12 and 13,
2004; Ann Harmon will be there too!

Much has been said on the BEE-L within the past few month regarding
queens; in comparison very little has been said about drones.  The
production of a line of queens with desired traits or desired breeding
requires control of both the father and the mother of the queen that
results from breeding- for whatever purpose, reason, or desire.

Regarding Larry Connor’s series of articles published in “Bee Culture, Dr.
Connor in the December 2003 issue writes about Drone-Holding Colonies,
Drone Mother Colonies, methods of manipulation and usage of Drone –Holding
Colonies and timing since natural mating of queens must be accomplished
with sexually mature drones. Detailed plans were given for placement of
frames and uses of drone-Holding and-Increase Colonies. Dr. Connor’s
series does make very good sense and is a valuable tool in planning
successful drone rearing and queen mating. His experience with this mater
is certainly justifiable for incorporation into a series of articles;
however, I believe that you would have to have a large organization to
support Dr. Connor’s ideas as discussed in December 2003 and if put into
operation; most of us could not afford such time and expense. In the
November 2003 "Bee Culture" Conner develops a 46 day table for drone
rearing which also shows timing to coincide with queen rearing.

This spring I will order several breeder queens to arrive in early May,
and after trails raise queens this summer for fall replacements in two
lines, active and inactive using local drones. Next spring I will schedule
splits, queen rearing, and drone rearing to Connor’s 46 day schedule plus
3 days as Glenn Apiaries recommends a 15 day maturation period for drones.
I also plan to maximize Hygienic drones next spring, ’05, by flooding
techniques from some of my best Minnesota Hygienic queens whose lines of
parentage were not used, inactive line for queen rearing, in order to
prevent inbreeding. Furthermore, I will use whole frames of capped drone
brood from my active line of breeder queens as a varroa control and lesser
method of swarm prevention, which limits unwanted drones, that are most
likely to carry the same alleles as the active line of queens. In May
2005, I will once again receive an order of breeder queens to repeat the
process in order to assure a higher percentage of Minnesota Hygienic
drones of a different parentage thus having different alleles. I believe
that I will be able to accomplish this without the greater expense
required by Connor’s method.


Chuck Norton
Norton's Nut & Honey Farm
Reidsville, NC

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