Introduction to Beekeeping

1. Introduction to Beekeeping Session 6 - Queens Sat 29th/Sun 30th March 2014

2. Introductions • Rob Page • Experience

3. The Queen • Female • Lives for 3-5 years • Mates in early life • Anatomically different to other females • Characterises the colony • After mating only leaves colony when swarming

4. Gender & Castes Egg Laid in drone cell Laid in worker cell Fertilisation (Parthenogenesis) Unfertilised Male larva (Haploid) Female larva (Diploid) Extra Brood food - 3days then Extra Pollen & Honey Brood food - 3days Royal Jelly then Pollen and Honey Q W D

5. Queen development • Egg laid in cup • 3 days to hatch • Fed royal jelly from hatching • Fed for 5 days • Gets 1600 visits from workers to feed • cf 150 visits for a worker larva • Cell hangs downward • Food in cell when sealed • Pupal development quite different • Proteins switch on different genes • Emerges after 8 days as pupa 16 Days

6. Adult queen • Accepted into any colony when hatched • 4 days to mature • Then fed by workers • Goes on mating flights • First 3 weeks • Stays in hive afterwards • Lays up to 2000 eggs a day • More than body weight • High energy digested food • Egg laying controlled by food intake 20 - 45 days

7. Drone development 24 Days • Egg laid in large cell • 3 days to hatch • Fed brood food for 7 days • Pupates for 14 days • Adult matures for 10 days • Feeds itself • Lives ~3 months • Fed by workers • Dies when mating 34 Days

8. Mating • Drone collection areas • Pheromone attractants • Drone paralysed • Multiple flights • 15-20 matings • ~10,000 drones • ~50 m diameter

9. Desirable colony characteristics • Gentle but robust • Healthy • Disease resistant • Hygienic behaviour • Hard working • Cold weather • opportunists • Large colony • Slow to swarm • Economic in winter

10. Queen rearing • Colony characteristics • Queen eggs • Colony characteristics • Drone producers • Selected apiary • Good mating • Constant characteristics • Natural mating

11. Honey bee races • Apismellifera • mellifera – British economical, hard working • ligustica – Italian gentle, large colony • carnica – German economical, gentle, swarmers • caucasia – E European economical, hard working • scutellata – African not gentle, healthy, tropical • Local bees – cross bred - bit of everything • Strains have diverse characteristics but are more predictable than cross bred bees

12. Ease of handling - 1920s • No protective clothing • Bees all over her arms & dress • Pearl necklace! • Why do we not have bees like this anymore?

13. Cross bred bees • Unpredictable outcomes • Recessive genes • F1 - vigour • F2 etc - ??? • Adaptable • Disease tolerance • Natural

14. Selective breeding • Instrumental insemination • OK for the dedicated • Learn to produce a lot of queens and drones • Not for the local amateur • Natural mating • Element of chance • Local variation

15. Assess queen quality • Let the queens mate and start colonies • Move away to permanent sites • Let them build and assess qualities • Select better quality colonies • Keep records!! • Expect to cull queens with poor quality progeny

16. Practice on drones and workers Never touch her abdomen Colour code W,Y,R,G,B Only mark the thorax Ensure paint is dry Carefully replace the queen Sharp scissors Marking and clipping a Queen