Replanting and replacement of queens
To bee families were strong, productive and less swarmed, on advanced apiaries it is customary to change up to half of the queens annually. They change not only the old queens, but also the queens of bee colonies that are prone to swarming or who do not possess economic-useful traits, as well as those hatched in the early spring under adverse weather conditions.
The queens are usually changed before the start of the main honey collection. The choice of this term is explained by the most favorable conditions that are taking shape in this period, since as long as the young queen comes out of the queen pot and becomes inseminated, there will be a break in the laying of eggs. The absence of open brood releases a large number of bees from caring for it, which allows them to be mobilized to collect more honey.
It is known that young uterus inseminate when flying high in the air. The small size of the greenhouses does not contribute to this, so in them old queens are changed only to the fetuses. However, there are cases of swarming of bees in greenhouses due to an oversight of the beekeeper. In our practice there were unexpected phenomena when young uterus from the greenhouses flew to freedom, inseminated and egg-laying in the first year of life did not yield to the usual uterus. But on the 2-3-rd year of life, many of them began to lay unfertilized eggs in the bee cells and queen cells for a quiet change of the uterus appeared in the most unsuitable, sometimes winter time. In the next season, these queens should be replaced.
In order not to change the outgrowth of the bee family in the greenhouse, for greater reliability of the exit of the uterus for insemination and its return, the outlet opening in the lower slope of the hothouse needs to be enlarged to the dimensions of 20×30 cm. And in order to better orient the young uterus at the exit hole, slightly paint or put an object colored
In the practice of greenhouse keeping of bees, the replacement of old queens on imported bee from southern apiaries is widespread. The results are often unsuccessful: a larger number of queen bees are not accepted, and a small portion of the adopted uterus is often discarded. According to their development, families with imported uteracs are inferior to families with uterus removed from their household. This is explained by the fact that the breeding of queens does not always take place under favorable conditions in poultry farms, and most importantly, that the uterus that has begun laying eggs is isolated for a long time from the nest, which adversely affects their future work. Many beekeepers from the hothouse farms near Moscow were convinced of this.
Bees tend to preserve the individual characteristics of their family. They are reluctant to accept other people’s queens, seeking to withdraw their own. The stronger the family, the more difficult it is to put another’s uterus to her.
The most important conditions for the successful replanting of the queens are the presence of honey and windless weather. Bees take better quality mats, bred in strong families. In this case, young bees are more willing to accept queens than old ones. As willingly accept the queen bee, where there are no larvae of little age, on which it would be possible to lay queen cells.
Before placing a young womb, find the old one. Do this with a smoke in the morning, when a significant number of bees are outside the hive, at work. Looking for the uterus, you need to smoke as little as possible on the bees. At the same time do not look honeyless honeycomb, but skimmed through the frames with the printed brood and larvae. Usually the uterus is found on the frame where the eggs are laid.
In the early osseous change of queens, the search for the uterus is usually combined with the removal of store attachments. To quickly find the uterus, store add-ons from the hive are removed and put on the lid. The bare frame of the nest is covered with a spare canvas and starts to search for the uterus. After its seizure, the magazine extensions are placed on the hive and the frames are removed.
Depending on the method of changing the uterus, it is taken or left in the cell.
Fig. 22. The uterine cell
Having withdrawn from the family uterus, immediately put her young should not. Bees should feel the absence of the uterus. The young womb is planted in 3-5 hours in a cage with accompanying bees, pre-filling the aft hole with honey.
Fig. 23. Uterine cap
The queens can also be inserted in the transfer cage or under the cap, which is slightly pressed into the honeycomb with outgoing brood, honey and empty cells.
If the uterus is obtained from the bee-nursery in the transfer cell, then its transplantation into the cell of Titov is carried out in an enclosed room at the window. The transit cell opens quickly and completely, while the bees and uterus, as a rule, sit quietly and are easily transplanted. If the uterus is placed under the cap or is released onto the honeycomb, then the transfer cell in an inverted form is placed on the honeycomb or over the frames and immediately taken away.
To delay the placement of the uterus in a deceased family for a long time or to postpone the next day should not be, since the bees, deprived of the uterus, will fill the fistula queen cells, which will complicate the reception of the implanted uterus.
The next day after the placement of the uterus, the family is examined to determine the attitude of the bees to it. If the bees take the uterus, then they sit on the cage or cap calmly, slightly spreading the wings, thrust the proboscis to feed the uterus and get from it the uterine substance – pheromone, informing the bees of the presence of the uterus in the nest. In this case, open the bottom valve of the cell and the hole is loosely covered with dry land with honey taken from one of the frame of the nest. Taking honey and destroying the land, the bees will release the uterus. If the uterus under the cap, it is simply removed, and the frame is quickly put in its place, cover the nest with a ceiling and work with this family immediately ends. Extra anxiety of bees is undesirable.
If the bees do not take the uterus, they thickly stick around and run around the cage or the cap. When trying to shake off the bees from the cell or the cap, they hold fast to it, get irritated and sting. In this case, the uterus can not be released, it is taken. The nest is examined and, if fistula mothers are laid, they are ripped off. Repeatedly, in 5-6 hours, the uterus in the cell is re-inserted in the same cell, but the probability of inciting the bees of this family to receive it is small. It depends on the individual characteristics of the family. It is better to wait for a period, the family deprived of the opportunity to withdraw its uterus, will be forced to accept the patient.
For greater reliability of reception by the bees of the young womb, the old uterus is enclosed in a cage, and after 2-3 hours it is taken away, a feed is placed in the stern fore and a young uterus is placed in the same cell. The cell, which received the smell of the family and the old uterus, softens another “family” smell characteristic of another family and young womb. If the old uterus in the future will not be used, it is killed, and her body rubs the cell with a young womb attached. This greatly improves the reception of the uterus by bees. In our practice, thanks to this method, even queens of other breeds were adopted in a timeless time.
In warm times, the cage with the uterus is conveniently placed in the center of the nest on the upper block of the frame. At the same time, without expanding the framework and not disturbing the bees, you can observe the attitude of the bees to it.
During a good honey harvest the bees calmly accept the queen, if they take the old uterus from the honeycomb and immediately release the young one in its place.
Some beekeepers, when replacing the queens, create a smell in the beehives that is not characteristic of bees.
A number of beekeepers believe that rapid movement and fussiness of the uterus are alarming bees and they begin to hostilely treat it. In order for the uterus to be calmer, before letting it into the chicken or putting it on the honeycomb, it is given to get hungry. When it is allowed into the nest, the uterus lingers at the first open honey cell, quenches the hunger, and then becomes more sedate. For the same purpose, the uterus is moistened with honey, which may not be harmless for them, they are smeared with honey, the legs are “tangled”, or wetted with water.
In all cases of grafting, as little as possible to disturb the bees, but there is an exception to this rule. It turns out that if all the bees are shaken off the frame to the bottom of the hive, or to the gangplank set up to the tap, and to let the uterus go to them, the bees do not pay attention to stressful confusion. In the meantime, the uterus, along with the bees, rises to the honeycomb and becomes an equal member of the family.
Well-received bees of young queens, placed on one or several frames with brood, bees and fodder.
It will be more reliable when a cell with an odor that is not characteristic of both families, that is, taken from a third family or from stocks, is inserted between the frames with the attached bees and the uterus and the main non-matric family. Separating honeycomb can not be put, but the attached bees with a uterus and bees of a deformed family should be sprinkled with flavored syrup or a solution of honey.
Valuable uterus, which can not be taken risks, is planted to bee colonies where there are no flying bees, but only young ones. This happens when you organize cores. The uterus is also accepted well, when all the queen cells are broken in families, and because of the lack of young larvae to withdraw their uterus, the bees do not have the opportunity.
The unfertile uterus of bees is much worse than the fetus, especially the “old ones” that emerged from the queen 4-5 days ago. Unfertile queens are planted only in bee colonies located outside the greenhouses, creating the same conditions for families as when replacing valuable fetuses.
In bee colonies, which are in the wild, it is better to replace the queens with mature mothers. An egg is given to a deformed family after 1-2 days after the selection of the uterus.
If the bee family is not royly, and the hive receives a significant amount of nectar, inspect the bees to remove fistula cells should not be. This will make the bees after the exit of the uterus from the mother liquor. In strong bee colonies, Central Russian or Kuban breeds and their hybrids prone to swarming, especially in the presence of supportive honey, fistula queen cells must be removed.
At the beginning of good honey cultivation, the replacement of queens is practiced without examination of the bees and seizures of the old uterus. To do this, a mature matchik is attached to the upper bar of the nest or store frame. On the second or third day, it is checked whether the queen is out of the queen cell or if it is gnawed. If the queen is out, the old one will be destroyed, and the young woman will start laying eggs after about 10 days. In case of rejection of the mother liquor, give the second. When the cheating of the mother liquor is secondary, the family should be left alone. Hence the uterus in it is full, and its replacement should be postponed to the following year.
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