On Tue, 14 Nov 2006 03:31:43 +0000, Murray McGregor 
<[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Yes
>it could be pushed higher by using the full bee season into Sept. to
>mate more and more queens, but after about 7th July the queens are of
>little use to us as you cannot practically get safe introduction on the
>heather (bees hostile and unreceptive in that environment).

I'm wondering why you couldn't (or why it wouldn't be practical to) use 
your established hives to strengthen your nucs instead of going the other 
way around and using the queens from your nucs to requeen your establish 
hives.  I find myself increasingly moving in this direction, i.e. doing 
less requeening and instead taking the brood and bees from the hives I 
otherwise would have requeened and doing other things with them, like 
making up nucs, strengthening nucs, etc.  I can see some constraints.  Of 
course, you wouldn't want to break up your hives right before or in the 
middle of a honey flow.  And requeening, at the times of year when it works 
well, is perhaps less labor-intensive.  What I'm talking about might also 
provide more opportunities for unwittingly spreading brood diseases.  
Nonetheless, my inclination is to favor the approach.  There seems to be an 
element of vigor that isn't altogether achieved by simply requeening.  And 
issues with queen acceptance seem to be all but eliminated.  What are 
y'all's thoughts?  Mike, I especially wonder what you think.

-- Visit www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l for rules, FAQ and  other info ---