Thanks Geoff, hello All

> On 22 Nov 2019, at 2:33 AM, Geoff Manning <[log in to unmask] <mailto:[log in to unmask]>> wrote:
> 
> https://www.agrifutures.com.au/wp-content/uploads/publications/03-049.pdf <https://www.agrifutures.com.au/wp-content/uploads/publications/03-049.pdf>

I read your post with interest and tried to follow the study as best I could.  The main message for me was “the longer the queen was in the mating nuc, the better she will perform”.  Maybe I’m juggling the results a bit but I have never successfully introduced a mated queen into a colony in my 40+ years as a beekeeper.  By success I include, she isn’t superseded several weeks after introduction.  

I have used , for several years, the method proposed by Mike Palmer although I modified it somewhat.  I made myself some 4 frame deep boxes that are slightly less than half the width of a standard deep(outside measure) with matching bottom boards, inner and outer covers to fit.  I make up my nucs the day before I introduce 10 day cells,  then leave them alone for 25 days.  If the cell results in a successful queen(all stages of brood in 25 days) I give the colony a second 4 frame box of foundation.  After it is drawn out with lots of brood I could move them to standard deeps, but I have found that I get the best results leaving them in the 4 frame stack with a plastic queen excluder cut in half then another 4 frame box of foundation for extracting honey(I have put on up to 3 of these honey boxes on before I get worried about the 5 box tower might fall over).
I winter these 4 over 4 colonies in packs of 2-4 and move them into single deeps the following spring.  If I need a queen for another hive, I combine one of my nucs using newspaper.  Small beekeeper, never more than 20 colonies.

Bob Darrell
Caledon Ontario
Canada 44N80W 





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