Miller Method of Queen Rearing
Each beehive requires a queen bee to perpetuate the colony. Her only job is to produce eggs and populate the hive. When more than one queen bee is produced in a hive, the bees will fight to the death, leaving only the strongest to lay eggs. It is the job of nurse bees to tend to brood cells containing eggs. Some of these will be specialized queen cells. Beekeepers can encourage the production of queen cells and then harvest these cells to produce new colonies or to sell to other beekeepers. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Beehive Insert a new or empty foundation frame into a hive between frames containing bees, brood, and an active queen.
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Hives in an orchard Ready a nuc or nucleus box for your new queen. This will contain active bees with a good supply of honey and a good deal of brood---new eggs and larvae---but no queen.
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Beekeeper Remove the new frame when it contains new capped brood. This should happen in about a week. Using a sharp knife, cut the foundation material into a zigzag pattern just below an area filled with newly hatched larvae. Once the larvae have curved into a "C" shape, they are too old, so look for larvae that are not yet at this stage to populate the cells at the bottom of your zigzag.
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Bees on capped brood Insert the frame containing the modified foundation comb into your prepared queenless nuc box, making sure there is sufficient honey to support the colony. Nurse bees will then tend the young female larvae into queen cells. If you are only trying to produce one new queen, the process is finished. Emerging fertilized queens will fight for dominance and one will survive to perpetuate the breed.
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Tips & Warnings
While it is possible to breed additional queens for sale, this process is more complex and is best accomplished in warm climates where the process can begin no later than February.
Beekeeping can be dangerous especially for the novice. Wear protective clothing and gloves and always have an epinephrine auto-injector on hand to prevent dangerous allergic reactions to stings known as anaphylaxis. These are sold commercially under names such as the Epi-Pen, Anapen and Twinject.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit bienenhaus image by Helmut Mayer from Fotolia.com bees with their queen on honeycomb in a glass box image by L. Shat from Fotolia.com bee-hive, apiary. image by Nataliya Peregudova from Fotolia.com hiver apiaristk beekeeper beeyard image by Pali A from Fotolia.com bee bees apises beehive hive insect image by Pali A from Fotolia.com
