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Download pdf HOW TO MAKE A EFFECTIVE NUCLEUS HIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADITIONAL METHOD TO CREATE ARTIFICIAL SWARMS FROM VIRGIN QUEENS TOOLS: 1) a swarm box; 2) a frame full of provisions; 3) two frames with bees, drones, brood and few provisions; 4) two fames with foundation (wax layers); 5) a roll of parcel tape; 6) a virgin queen; 7) a plastic queen- cell cup (similar to a perforated thimble); 8) a pocket feeder *; 9) a roll of 2cm wide paper tape; 10) a pin; 11) dense candy, obtained by mixing impalpable sugar and fructose syrup. * Pocket Feeder: when a pocket feeder is used to distribute liquid food, it must be equipped with a plastic net of the same size as the feeder, which stays bathed in the syrup and will act as a "climbing ladder" for the bees. Method: Collect all the material, bring it close to a beehive from which you can take bees and frames with brood and provisions. Insert the frame with the provisions in the first position, that is, the one closest to one of the two side walls of the swarm box. In second position, insert a frame with foundation; in third position, one frame of bees, drones and brood; in fourth position another frame with foundation; in the fifth position one frame of bees, drones and brood, as last thing, place in sixth position an empty pocket feeder. At this point, close the swarm box using the parcel tape, sealing all the cracks between the cup and the box; repaeat this procedure for a second time (second round of tape), so that the two tape layers will stick to each other. Perform the same operation by sealing with tape the small door. Move the nucleuses at least at a linear distance of 3 km far from the original apiary. Place them so as to alternate between them the swarm boxes having different colored entry. This is needed to assist the return of each queen, after its mating flight, to the right box, in order not to be killed. Then, open the door of the nucleuses and move away. After 12 to 20 hours at most from the formation of the swarm, bring to the nucleuses: the virgin queens in cages/excluders, a quantity of sugar syrup 1: 1 (enough to fill the pocket fedder), the plastic cups for the queen cell , the pin and the tape. In an indoor place, heated, no less than 25 ° C (even inside a car) close the exit of the plastic cups using a small ball of candy; free the virgin queen from the cage and insert it, without chaperones, into the plastic cup; At this point, close the top of the plastic cup, on the side of the larger hole, with a piece of paper tape, previously perforated with the pin; Place the cup with the virgin queen between two frames of the nucleus hive, in order to be in contact with a largest number of bees. The bees will eat the candy and free the virgin queen, accepting it as if it had just been born from a royal cell. Finally, before closing the swarm box, pour some syrup into the pocket feeder, to facilitate the bulding of foundations. With our selection, within 8 - 10 days from the insertion of the queen, the latter will start to hatch. Certainly, the prerequisites for the right number of drones in the apiary and the appropriate weather conditions must be met. This type of nucleus can be exploited on five frames and relative honeycomb, for the production of honey, in the same year of its formation. However, from a strong beehive, rich in bees and brood, in general, one can obtain an artificial swarm of the same type per year. At most, two can be obtained. Therefore, to those who would be interested in increasing the number of swarms and then bee colonies, I recommend using the Stracci method, which consists in creating swarms with package bees and candied. The method of inserting a virgin queen, described in this article, can also be used for the replacement of the queen at the end of her career, in an already formed hive. In the latter case, it is necessary to take the queen to be replaced, close it in a transport cage, with sealed exit doors, without candied fruit and without escorts. Put it back inside its own hive between two frames and leave the family in this condition for 8/9 days. At the end of this time, it is necessary to visit the nest and eliminate all the queen cells formed in the honeycombs. At that point, the family will no longer have any grub that can be used to build queen cells and, within the next 6/7 days, you will have the possibility of inserting a virgin queen in the colony using the plastic cup method described above. The old queen, confined in the excluder, does not allow the normal distribution of the royal pheromone in the colony. The family will feel "orphan"and it will have "the feeling" of the lack of fresh brood available to self-produce queen cells. This conditions will put the family (even if aggressive) in the condition of willingly accepting the virgin queen. Provided that, the method described here is followed accurately. Once the new queen has mated, the bees generally stop feeding the old queen, which can be eliminated by the beekeeper. Livorno, 01/12/2015 Giuliano Stracci
Download pdf HOW TO MAKE A EFFECTIVE NUCLEUS HIVE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE TRADITIONAL METHOD TO CREATE ARTIFICIAL SWARMS FROM VIRGIN QUEENS TOOLS: 1) a swarm box; 2) a frame full of provisions; 3) two frames with bees, drones, brood and few provisions; 4) two fames with foundation (wax layers); 5) a roll of parcel tape; 6) a virgin queen; 7) a plastic queen- cell cup (similar to a perforated thimble); 8) a pocket feeder *; 9) a roll of 2cm wide paper tape; 10) a pin; 11) dense candy, obtained by mixing impalpable sugar and fructose syrup. * Pocket Feeder: when a pocket feeder is used to distribute liquid food, it must be equipped with a plastic net of the same size as the feeder, which stays bathed in the syrup and will act as a "climbing ladder" for the bees. Method: Collect all the material, bring it close to a beehive from which you can take bees and frames with brood and provisions. Insert the frame with the provisions in the first position, that is, the one closest to one of the two side walls of the swarm box. In second position, insert a frame with foundation; in third position, one frame of bees, drones and brood; in fourth position another frame with foundation; in the fifth position one frame of bees, drones and brood, as last thing, place in sixth position an empty pocket feeder. At this point, close the swarm box using the parcel tape, sealing all the cracks between the cup and the box; repaeat this procedure for a second time (second round of tape), so that the two tape layers will stick to each other. Perform the same operation by sealing with tape the small door. Move the nucleuses at least at a linear distance of 3 km far from the original apiary. Place them so as to alternate between them the swarm boxes having different colored entry. This is needed to assist the return of each queen, after its mating flight, to the right box, in order not to be killed. Then, open the door of the nucleuses and move away. After 12 to 20 hours at most from the formation of the swarm, bring to the nucleuses: the virgin queens in cages/excluders, a quantity of sugar syrup 1: 1 (enough to fill the pocket fedder), the plastic cups for the queen cell , the pin and the tape. In an indoor place, heated, no less than 25 ° C (even inside a car) close the exit of the plastic cups using a small ball of candy; free the virgin queen from the cage and insert it, without chaperones, into the plastic cup; At this point, close the top of the plastic cup, on the side of the larger hole, with a piece of paper tape, previously perforated with the pin; Place the cup with the virgin queen between two frames of the nucleus hive, in order to be in contact with a largest number of bees. The bees will eat the candy and free the virgin queen, accepting it as if it had just been born from a royal cell. Finally, before closing the swarm box, pour some syrup into the pocket feeder, to facilitate the bulding of foundations. With our selection, within 8 - 10 days from the insertion of the queen, the latter will start to hatch. Certainly, the prerequisites for the right number of drones in the apiary and the appropriate weather conditions must be met. This type of nucleus can be exploited on five frames and relative honeycomb, for the production of honey, in the same year of its formation. However, from a strong beehive, rich in bees and brood, in general, one can obtain an artificial swarm of the same type per year. At most, two can be obtained. Therefore, to those who would be interested in increasing the number of swarms and then bee colonies, I recommend using the Stracci method, which consists in creating swarms with package bees and candied. The method of inserting a virgin queen, described in this article, can also be used for the replacement of the queen at the end of her career, in an already formed hive. In the latter case, it is necessary to take the queen to be replaced, close it in a transport cage, with sealed exit doors, without candied fruit and without escorts. Put it back inside its own hive between two frames and leave the family in this condition for 8/9 days. At the end of this time, it is necessary to visit the nest and eliminate all the queen cells formed in the honeycombs. At that point, the family will no longer have any grub that can be used to build queen cells and, within the next 6/7 days, you will have the possibility of inserting a virgin queen in the colony using the plastic cup method described above. The old queen, confined in the excluder, does not allow the normal distribution of the royal pheromone in the colony. The family will feel "orphan"and it will have "the feeling" of the lack of fresh brood available to self-produce queen cells. This conditions will put the family (even if aggressive) in the condition of willingly accepting the virgin queen. Provided that, the method described here is followed accurately. Once the new queen has mated, the bees generally stop feeding the old queen, which can be eliminated by the beekeeper. Livorno, 01/12/2015 Giuliano Stracci