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Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology

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Subject:
From:
Lloyd Spear <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informed Discussion of Beekeeping Issues and Bee Biology <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Sun, 13 Sep 1998 10:48:29 -0400
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Paul Koski asks about requeening.
 
1. It is not unusual for several queens to be in any swarm where the  old
queen is not present.  While this is usually a swarm after the primary swarm
( an  afterswarm  or a  secondary swarm ) it can also be a swarm from a hive
with a clipped queen or any condition where the hive queen could not join
the swarm.  Usually, or perhaps always, these queens will be unmated.
2. It could be that both queens could not mate properly because of inclement
weather or a lack of drones.  The latter condition is suspected by some as
being common, due to varroa s preference for drone brood.
3. I believe that there is considerable dis-agreement concerning whether the
presence of the worker bees in a queen cage hinders acceptance.  Commercial
beekeepers that I know leave them in the cage.  I personally leave them in
the cage.
4. At least two studies, cited by Dr. Tom Seeley at Cornell, maintain that
workers more readily accept a queen of the same line than a queen of a
differing line.  However, I recall these studies were examining two
different lines of Italians, which are more closely related than any line of
Italian would be to any line of Carnolians.  Moreover, these studies showed
a preference for queens that were genetically related and did not show that
workers would  always  reject queens not genetically related.
 
I have often successfully introduced Carnolian queens to Italian hives with
no difficulty.
 
Lloyd
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Owner, Ross Rounds   the finest in comb honey production.

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