Analysis of honey farmers' records on queen rearing and queen introduction

Abstract

1. Queen-rearing and queen-introduction records of two honey farmers have been analysed.2. Cells with newly grafted larvae were sometimes more readily accepted by queenless and broodless colonies than by queenless colonies with brood, or queenright colonies, and sometimes more readily accepted and built by queenless colonies with brood than by queenright colonies. Giving larval food with the larvae made little difference to acceptance.3. Sealed cells and virgin queens wero more readily accepted by colonies dequeened for 3 days or more than by more recently dequeened colonies, particularly when the former had queen cells. Queen cells were the least successfully introduced to colonies which had been dequeened 3 hr. or less. Younger cells were better accepted than older cells in recently dequeened colonies, but not in colonies dequeened 3 days or more. Cell protectors did not increase the percentage of mated laying queens produced.4. Mated laying queens were less successfully introduced to colonies with virgin queens, cells, or laying queens and cells, than to colonies with laying queens only.5. In June and July cells and virgins were more successfully introduced, and mated laying queens less successfully introduced, than in other months. The acceptance of grafted cells did not vary with the time of the year.6. The success obtained with cell building, and cell and queen introduction differed greatly in different years.