Beekeeping UK Queen rearing made easy Nicot

An easy way for anyone to produce your own queens or increase your colony numbers the Nicot method made easy

[@pradeepkoushik5074]

u should hv waited for a day after removing all queen cells before adding grafts.The hive takes time before it feels hopelessly queenless.

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Thanks for your kind advice john

[@roystheboy]

I must have missed this one some how john, How do you that the eggs are queen cells are they a different colour or size, ive noticed that you have a super under the brood box is it empty just to give the bees more room.

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Roy's The Boy First of all Roy, Queen cells are quite large about the size of a peanut case about an inch long hanging down on the bottom of the frames somewhere between 3 and 15 of them , A National brood box is a bit small for a large colony so , most beekeepers have two boxes on the bottom for the queen to lay eggs, this can be two large brood boxes or one large and one small box ie a supper box I put the small box under the bigger brood box as the queen normally lays queen cells in the middle of boxes but on the bottom of the upper box. This then enables you to move the queen cells into a nuc box if the queen put queen cells in the small box the frames are the wrong size for a nuc box hope that makes sense if not give us a phone call it’s a bit complicated once you get it in your head what’s going on it’s easy John .👍😉

[@63italic]

Great video thanks for sharing. How long did you leave the hive queen-less before adding the eggs? Thanks!

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Hi Roberto, I leave them for 5 days then take down all the queen cells, You can leave the eggs in the cage to hatch on the 3rd day and add day old larve to the colony but sometimes the bees just move the eggs out of the plasic cups when left in the cage , i find. John.

[@63italic]

@@johnbeemansaunders6567 thanks very much for the quick answer! I saw a few videos where people recommend transferring larvae rather than eggs but what you say makes sense. I only need a couple of queens so transferring about 20 eggs should enable me to achieve that. Thanks again 😊

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

@@63italic they can also move eggs from the cups when you put them in the queen less colony so have a look through the colony12 days later you may find a queen cell hope that helps john

[@63italic]

@@johnbeemansaunders6567 makes sense. Thank you!

[@nuruzzaman4893]

John, you might have indicated that you can choose which drones your queens mates with. Can you tell us how? Or is it just chancing that the other apiary has better bees in general? Also would a virgin queen mate with drone from the same hive/colony?

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Nuruz Zaman it is a bit of chance as I took them to the other apiary where I put drone foundation in the only hive there which is great and it was full of drones hundreds of them so there is a good chance some may mate with the virgin queens but as Queens fly sometimes miles we can't be sure but I gave it my best shot also leaving a queen cell in the defensive hive It could mate with a drone from that so I will requeen that one later on this summer 👍hope that helps John

[@privatebubba8876]

The only way to know what drones have been mated with queen is to Artificially Inseminate (AI) the queen

[@asmirpcele]

Hello, just a question. Do you take cells when they are an egg or larvie?

[@ArtaniAM]

Hi Asmir. This is the reason why he had only 4 Q.C from 14 . Normally you wait till the eggs hatches and then you transfer them to the starter. In this case the % of Q.C started would have been much higher. ( in my experience is round 85% ) .

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Hi and thanks for commenting, I use one day old larvie for grafting but with the Nicot I use eggs , this is just my way of doing it, I have found worker bees sometimes move the eggs from the queen cage so, I am happy with the results, I have used 6 eggs with 6 acceptances, most people do use larvie though I do not, regards John.

[@asmirpcele]

@@ArtaniAM I use larvies too, and when I hear him say eggs that is why I got confused.

[@asmirpcele]

@@johnbeemansaunders6567 thanks for the answer. I tried eggs one time and they cleaned out the eggs.

[@paulcuttiford5122]

Hi John, Love your excellent & informative videos keep them coming . Best regards Paul.

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Paul Cuttiford Thanks Paul 🤓

[@rosirockful]

You put cups with EGGS in the cell builder, not LARVAE. Is it better to let the eggs alone until they hatch or just as good to use eggs? I tried Transferring eggs and the were rejected. Thanks for the video!

[@T0tenkampf]

I have seen a couple other videos where transferring eggs seem to be an issue, was advised to wait until hatched.

[@micheldaggelinckx9650]

If you don't install the yellow cup holders you can use them to pickup the cups very easy.

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Michel Daggelinckx great thanks for the info all the best to you something else I've learnt today 👍

[@T0tenkampf]

You aren't the first youtuber that didn't realize that! Easy mistake to make!

[@rickmartin9823]

You made that look really hard,use a nuc box!!!

[@mrtheonlyspitfire2200]

Very interesting I enjoyed watching this video thanks. Keep em coming 🐝

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

mrtheonlyspitfire 2 thank you for your kind comments and I will do my best to create some good content regards John

[@cliveharrison733]

Hi John, enjoying your vids just wanted to pick your brains if I may. I have a hive that was going great in the spring but then I saw supersedure cells so I left them to it,they know better than me. New queen took over (never met her) with a great laying pattern but quickly went off the boil slowed down to the odd egg then stopped. I have searched the hive several times and cannot find a queen yet the bees refuse to make a new one, I’ve given them frames of fresh eggs from other hives twice now but no queen cells have been made, there is no sign of a laying worker (been there before). The bees are acting like they have a queen working hard taking straight off as they emerge and bringing in loads of honey but not for much longer with no young emerging. Do I try to introduce a queen or do I shake the hive first? Thanks Clive

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Clive Harrison Hi Clive I would shake all the bees through a queen excluder if I was Unable to find the Queen in the first instance you should then find her on the top of the queen excluder if definitely no queen then I would introduce a mated queen as you have already tried eggs, as long as you definitely don't have a laying worker sorry I can't help any further beekeeping is not always straightforward is it hope you get it sorted kind regards John

[@privatebubba8876]

Is your hive honey bound?

[@houstonsheltonbees814]

I really appreciate your channel. Looking forward to seeing the makeup on the 3 nucs. I will get caught up eventually with your movies. Hello from the Kentucky mountains USA.

[@bradgoliphant]

Could you put a link here for me where to order that kit please. Thanks Great idea.

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Brad Oliphant Hi Brad, i’m currently away in The New Forest for a small break, and do not have my computer with me to send you a link, I’m just doing this from a phone, i’ve just looked on eBay, they are £5.47, they are the cheap Chinese ones but okay, just type in on eBay at the search beekeeping Queen rearing and they will come up There is also some better ones for about £30I used the cheap ones , next year I will be using the system to raise some queens from my wild bee colony that are treatment free , hope that helps John.

[@nuruzzaman4893]

Hi John, let us know how it all works out with the three other queens i.e. what you do with them should they survive and emerge. Really good video. You made it look relatively simple. Do you always buy boxes or have you ever tried making your your own nuc/hive?

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Nuruz Zaman Hi Nuruz I have Three spare Nuc boxes I have filled them with frames of bees and provisions pollen et cetera I will show them and the results of the emerging queens on a later video about three weeks I have not made up my own nuke boxes I just buy them off local Bee equipment supplier called bee equipment UK thanks for your interest and watching bye from John

[@alvincannon73]

Another good honest video .. thanks .. I always enjoy your videos .. packed full of good UK not USA info !

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Alvin Cannon Hi Alvin thanks for your kind words it is very encouraging to me I appreciate you watching 🤓👏

[@privatebubba8876]

Now that's funny. I watch beekeepers from around the world and beekeeping is pretty universal except for equipment used.

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

@@privatebubba8876 Yes that true and its good that we all do it in different way to suit ourselves and the bees. By the way i enjoyed watching your mechanical Drones on your channel, very good i might buy one myself to improve my channel.

[@richardhaen]

Good job John, how long do u live the queen cells hang befor u remove them/

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Richard Haen Hi Richard, take down the old queen cells 7 to 10 days then the colony will be hopelessly queenless, and will be eager to make new queen cells on the new larvae you put in the hive good question and thanks for commenting happy beekeeping kind regards John

[@richdaly9861]

Thank you SIR

[@denisquenneville9868]

I saw you destroy all the queen cells on the frames in the box before introducing your eggs frame in the box. What about the box underneath, could there not have been queen cells on frames in taht box?

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Denis Quenneville well spotted Denis , I did check the bottom box but didn't film it there were none in it, I thoughts viewers maybe would of got a. bit bored if I film that one as well saying that I should have said to viewers to check the bottom box so I will update the comments saying what you suggested thanks for your comment keep well kind regards John

[@cathedralImages]

What time of the year does this happen John ? 🙋‍♂️

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

About mid May, when you see lots of drone about is good, you can also leave the eggs for three days and then they will turn to larvae these are best for queen cells but sometimes the workers move the eggs from the cups , that is way I use just eggs and not larvae . Have fun doing it , john

[@cathedralImages]

Thank you John .

[@TestTest-hm4fz]

lovely

[@madeiranmarvel2116]

Sorry, maybe a stupid question but would it not be possible to keep the Queen from the giant cell? Could that big cell be taken from there and safely grown out somewhere elese?

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Good question, the beehive in this video, were very defensive and I dispatched the Queen to prevent any more problems with it, the queen cells that were in this hive , even very large would have had The defensive genetics from the mother Queen, it may not be quite so defensive as the virgin queen would be mated with different drones, also this is an emergency cell, they tend to be inferior, as you get three different types of cells, supersedure, emergency and swarm cells hope that helps john

[@Lsmith-ly2cm]

Great video John thank you

[@freddenver7781]

Molta feina per un resultat tant pobre

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Fred Denver yes Fred 👌

[@danielevans8368]

John ! We’ve missed you , have been checking in every day getting worried, glad to see you’re well :-)

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Daniel Evans Hi Daniel thank you for your kind concern I have unwell neurological chronic condition but back now The weather has not helped I am looking forward to a great summer with the lovely Bees happy beekeeping to you and thanks for watching John and Lin 🤓

[@rohithabw3478]

❤❤❤❤

[@AdrianThane]

blimy I miss the bird song of the UK. from expat

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Adrian Thane Hi Adrian, I do love the birds myself, what country are you from please, kind regards John

[@AdrianThane]

@@johnbeemansaunders6567 I am from Surrey "livin in America"

[@wadebarnes6720]

You put 16 in so you need at least 17 gauges right

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

Just one cage for each queen cell , The hive you use to raise the Queens have no queen them selves, I think that’s what you mean, happy beekeeping from john

[@wadebarnes6720]

@@johnbeemansaunders6567 I was making a funny bubble put 16 cells in so you needed 17 cages in other words you could do such a good job one was going to make two.lol

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

@@wadebarnes6720 😂 sorry thanks for making me laugh

[@wadebarnes6720]

I know this was shot over a year ago but I can hear a Virgin Queen don't know if it's in the one you in or one close

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

How lovely to hear from you, I used to be able to hear virgin queens, as I have got a bit older I’m quite deaf so unable to hear them any more, but very interesting comment from you, I would need to look back on my notes which are a bit difficult to decipher , I don’t think they would of been queen cells in that hive as I would definitely checked it before I cage to the queen , thanks for watching , john

[@wadebarnes6720]

@@johnbeemansaunders6567 this would be my first full year with bee's starting this year. Got some bees late in the year I turned three into six I just wish I knew what I was doing maybe this year will teach me if any of them live through the winter

[@wadebarnes6720]

@@johnbeemansaunders6567 I'm in South Carolina the US is your time the same as mine

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

@@wadebarnes6720 sounds like you’re doing okay so far, if you have plenty of stores and bees I’m sure you’ll be okay Anyway there’s nothing like the bees to teach us right from wrong, we can both look forward to next year and have some enjoyment keeping bees, hope you and your family are keeping well through the trying times of this virus 19 john

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

@@wadebarnes6720 that’s a nice place to live, I think you have good weather there compared to the UK weather, 10: 45 am hear when I reply to this comment, Cold windy day here, see you sometime regards john

[@johnbeemansaunders6567]

sorry i went on a long time should have made two videos with it not one happy beekeeping john

[@Irishtradchannel]

A good job done by you. Thanks.