Hi Phil

> I made a split which produces queen cells

This gives poor control, many queens raised under this method will have been
the oldest possible larvae that could be converted. Such queens are no
problem for the bees, because they can always supercede later when the
urgency is less, but the beekeeper in this situation ends up with a poor
quality queen unless he leaves it in situe for several months until it is
superceded.

> I made a split which produces queen cells and reduce to the best cell,

This is also risky...
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman/qc2.html

The above page is one of the oldest on the site (written on a Psion 5 PDA)
and is thus about due for a re-write, but the only thing I can find wrong
with it is a couple of punctuation errors.

> made with four frames of brood minimum having overwintered on two
> boxes..Lang.

There are implications here... UK conditions are such that any colony that
requires to be overwintered in two Langstroth boxes, has a genetic make up
that is highly hybridised, which not ideal for the prevailing conditions.
There are some indications that virgins are selective to a degree in the
males that they actually mate with and that this selectivity increases with
the amount of racial difference. Maybe your hybrid queens are rejecting the
local drones.


Best Regards & 73s, Dave Cushman... G8MZY
Beekeeping & Bee Breeding Website
Email: [log in to unmask] or  [log in to unmask]
http://website.lineone.net/~dave.cushman & http://www.dave-cushman.net

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