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Srdjan Todorovski

 part 1

NEW PURPOSES OF ARTIFICIAL QUEEN CELL CUPS

(Biological role of bell shaped cells)

part 2

 

On image 7 we notice only one queen cell (covered with bees, right arrow) bellow the brood. The entrance is on the opposite side of queen cell cup leftovers. This suggests that queen cell cups should be grouped bellow upcoming brood.

Image 5

Image 6

Image 7

 

Queen cell cups should be placed on the bottom of the comb. Images 5 and 6 show that the bells closer to the comb bottom were better built than those above. Positioning the cell cups vertically on every position on the comb is the subject of future researches. Placing bells on sides of the comb was not performed.

 

  1. Determining the strength of swarming urge in a bee colony

 

Predicting a swarm represents a new approach in beekeeping technology which permits planning of production and using bees’ natural instincts to achieve better crop.

The idea is to determine the intensity of swarming urge of every colony before swarming season, prepare in advance a plan of work on the whole apiary for the whole season and take the appropriate beekeeping actions.

It would be best to add frames with queen cell cups as soon as possible, before swarming season, because, if added during swarming, bees might have already made bells or queen cells on other frames of the same hive, and the colony might swarm after removing the marked frame with artificial bells (queen cells).

Image 8

We prepare one marked frame with queen cell cups for every colony (image 8). All frames should be similar for comparing the results better. At the first spring brood expanding one marked frame is put in the middle of every colony’s brood. In a few days bees will either transform the queen cell cups into artificial bells or tear them down. Inspecting the marked frames we can determine the strength of swarming urge of every bee colony. The following facts can be noticed:

  1. artificial bells are completely drawn (image 2). There is a strong swarming urge in the colony, and it will probably swarm. (Future researches will determine statistically correct probability)
  2. queen cell cups are torn down; they can be recognized on the photo by light colored comb (image 4). The colony will probably not swarm. (It can easily be noticed that beyond swarming season there are no bells on either brood or honey comb).
  3. Some queen cell cups are drawn, but not all. Swarming urge in the colony is present, but weak. Whether the colony will swarm or not, depends on climate, honeyflow and beekeeping practice. Such colonies should be put into one of the previous two groups. If there are more completely built bells than not built, we put it in the group a, otherwise, we put it in the group b.

In an experiment, 9 colonies were chosen which were the most productive in 2003 and did not swarm. In every colony’s brood we put one frame with queen cell cups (image 8). The appearance of transformed queen cell cups 7 days after (image 9) showed that none of the colonies was swarming. The experiment was repeated three times during June and July 2004. As expected, the colonies did not swarm.

Image 9

(The experiment with a swarming colony is shown on images 1 and 2.)

 

 

  1. Preventing swarming

 

A marked frame with freshly laid worker cells and artificial bells is put in one of the above boxes (the second one would be optimal, or the same body in one box hives) and separated with queen excluder. Instead of the taken frame, we put a new marked frame with queen cell cups. In the upper box bees will move an egg into an artificial bell, and make a queen. In the brood box bees will not try to make queen cells. No sooner than two weeks after eggs were laid in the frame, the queen cells in the upper frame will be full-grown and removed from the hive (we can take them for requeening, destroy them or remove the whole frame) before young queens emerge. The procedure is then repeated, a new empty queen cell cup frame is added. The number of cell cups should not be big (4-8 queen cell cups) in order not to burden the colony. The goal is to make bees build queen cells where a beekeeper wants them to.

In order not to open the hive and control when the queen laid eggs into the queen cell cup frame (artificial bells) it would be best to repeat the procedure every two weeks, no matter how developed queen cells are.

To prevent swarming in Serbian climate the queen cell cup frame is added in the middle of April, before the bees start to make queen cells themselves.

When a colony stops making queen cells we can predict that it will not swarm. We can stop adding queen cell cup frames then.

By regularly adding a cell cup frame and restarting the procedure of rearing queens an illusion is made that the colony will get a new queen, and bees are mislead that everything is all right. This condition can be prolonged through the whole swarming season.

The queen cells in the upper box prevent the bees to draw queen cells in the brood section during swarming. This means that using relatively simple procedure and only one frame bees can be deceived every two weeks that they are swarming, while we prevent them from swarming by taking them the frame with developed queen cells. There is no need for an uncertain quest for queen cells all over the hive which takes a lot of effort and harms the colony.

 

The advantages of this method:

-          The time of work and disturbing the bees is reduced to minimum. Adding the marked and easy to find frame, moving and taking out the frame lasts only several minutes. It is not necessary to go through other frames and the colony disturbance during the bee’s work is minimal. This is possible since bees gladly accept queen cell cups, and when the frame is moved up nourishing bees move the eggs into artificial bells on the same frame.

-          The time of particular actions can be planned

-          The procedure is simple and can be done by every beekeeper

 

  1. Rearing queens

 

Queens can be reared if bees are made to move a fertilized egg into a queen cell themselves. This cell is referred to as “bell”.

The advantage of this method is that nourishing bees choose the most suitable egg and move it into the bell before the egg is changed into larva. This way, the chosen larva is nourished with royal jelly from the first moment of its development. That is an important condition for a good queen. It is known that a larva increases its mass several times in the first 24 hours, and a queen larva develops several times faster than a worker bee larva. This means that a working bee larva which is grafted to become a queen 10-12 hours after being laid, gets its royal food later and develops more slowly.

We prepare a marked frame as in case 1 (image 1 and 8) and insert it into the brood section of a chosen colony which is about to swarm (determined using the above described procedure). It would be most favorable to put the frame in the middle of the brood so the queen could lay eggs as soon as possible. Bees will turn queen cell cups into artificial bells very quickly (image 2). They will first reshape queen cell cups and later perhaps build some other bells on comb cells.

In 1 to 7 days the queen will lay eggs in the frame’s comb. Then, the frame with eggs and queen cell cups from the brood section may be used to rear queens by making bees move eggs into bells.

We can rear queens using several known methods. One is to add a marked frame to a cell building colony which will make good queen cells from the eggs that nourishing bees had transferred themselves into artificial bells.

An other method would be to continue rearing queens in the same colony. The advantage of this method would be the fact that not only the mother and father, but also the cell building colony has an effect on the characteristics of the future queen through the royal jelly. The marked frame and several other brood frames with young worker bees are transferred in the uppermost box, and queen excluders are put above the brood section and bellow the top box with the new frames. The researches confirmed that it is better to rear queens while the old queen is present.

In practice one can notice that the probability of queen cells to be drawn is better if the frame with bells is more distant from the entrance. A possible reason for that could be weaker presence of the queen. That is why when queens are reared the frame is put as far as possible from the brood, while when preventing swarming, the frame is added close to the brood, separated by a queen excluder.

When transferring the marked frame with bells one should be careful not to move the queen as well. In a few days bees will move eggs into artificial bells and make beautiful queen cells (image 3). The rest of the procedure is familiar to beekeepers.

The advantages of this method:

  1. It is well known that some deficiencies in the early development of a queen cannot be enhanced later. This method makes queens which are predestined to be queens from the very beginning of their development (egg phase), which is a certain sign of their quality.
  2. Nourishing bees will always move a selected egg themselves. This is how we avoid the delicate procedure of getting larvae of the same age and their grafting into queen cell cups.
  3. The possibility of inbreeding is much slighter, since bees recognize an egg from closely related parents.
  4. The simplicity of the procedure enables rearing less queens in more colonies. This also reduces the possibilities of inbreeding.
  5. No special premises or equipment are needed.
  6. No special training is needed as with larva grafting. Every beekeeper can rear queens using the recommended method.
  7. A queen is easily reared in the same hive, so the new queen easily gets the characteristics of the rearing colony.

 

  1. Royal jelly production

 

The process is the same as when producing queen cells and preventing swarming except for the fact that the marked frame is taken out three days after the larvae are hatched and that the number of queen cell cups per one frame as well as the number of frames can be much bigger. After extracting royal jelly the frame is put back into the brood section so that the queen could lay eggs again, and the process of adding queen cell cups is repeated.

 

Conclusion:

The idea of this method is to get close to the natural processes that happen in a bee colony. That is why I expect that practice will confirm the statements from the article.

Encouraged by good starting results I believe it is possible to improve this method and extend its purpose.

 

Future objectives:

In the future many additional tasks should be accomplished:

-          precisely determine the age of the egg that bees transfer to bells

-          determine the influence of the queen in hive boxes above queen excluder

-          use greater number of hives

-          determine the optimal number of queen cell cups for every procedure

-          use Jenter cells for rearing queens, swarming prevention and royal jelly production

-          determine the best position in the brood section where the queen will lay eggs most quickly

-          precisely interpret the results of swarming tests related to the swarming period and the strength of a colony

-          evaluation of the suggested methods