How to Make Queen Bees - Made SIMPLE

[@PeabodysApiary]

One of the best quality videos I’ve seen . You can actually see the larva and exactly how you transferred to the cup well done!

[@brandonsbees1]

Hello Ryan, Thank you for that and I thought it would be helpful to see the full transfer process! Thanks again!

[@scottreese5492]

I really appreciate how easy you make that look, and close up was best. 10yr beekeeping and finally gonna try, thanks and Jesus bless you

[@stevennoland3996]

I tried grafting for the first time last year on a hot dry day. There was not as much royal jelly as you had to dip into. I did not cover the grafts with a cloth. I think all of my grafts dried out in 10 minutes, I put them in the starter hive and zero queens took. Thank You for the video, I did learn some things. I think I will feed the hive I graft from so that they may make more royal jelly. Good Job on the video!!!!

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you for the comment. There are many things that go into grafting queen cells but yes try to feed them and see if that makes a difference! Make sure they are queen less then they will pull those grafts out. Keep practicing and thanks for the comment!

[@robertdeflora4]

This is a great video. I have been watching queen rearing videos for over a week and none explained how it is done. Thank you for this video. I can not believe how easy it is.

[@AubMar]

You make it look easy Brandon, I know it's not but I am greatly inspired by your demonstration here, thank you so much for sharing with us.

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@kimberlydodson8075]

Very nice video quality. You’ve motivated me to try grafting. Thank you!

[@brandonsbees1]

Hello Kimberly! I'm glad that this video has brought out some motivation! All I ask is that you let me know how they turn out and try and try again as you can see, I'm far from perfect also!

[@richardhyatt-beekeeping]

Just what I was looking for. Going to try this next month (March 2024), This is my 6th season beekeeping.

[@brandonsbees1]

Hey Richard, Glad it was helpful, and I hope you have a successful attempt in March! Best of beekeeping in 2024

[@atFreedomFarm]

Finally a close up view of the tool technique, thanks

[@brandonsbees1]

Very welcome

[@shawnh8754]

I've been pretty intimidated about making my own queens. You completely took that away with your simple, straight forward explanations. I had seen videos of people with all kinds of things set up in their house, way too complicated. Your method is perfect. Thanks! Yes, I did learn something and gained some courage. :)

[@brandonsbees1]

Hello Shawn, I'm more than happy to hear that and if you run across any questions, please ask but I don't always have the answer either Haha! All I ask is that you let me know how they turn out or how you might've done it a little different with success in a different way! Best of luck!

[@richardhyatt-beekeeping]

Hey Brandon's Bees I've added your channel to my channel home page because I watched all three of your queen raising videos. Very well done. Thanks, I'm going to try grafting this season.

[@brandonsbees1]

Please do and let me know how it goes if you get a chance! Glad you enjoyed it and keep up with the content as I continue to show things on here. Thanks much!

[@jasonseaward8506]

Thats really good and i live the transparency and honesty. I also love how clear this video is, i cant wait to try doing this myself, just gotta save some $ somehow lol.

[@mgran358]

Excellent, clear, step by step. I Just missed that you placed them In cup while the cup was facing up then placed the frame with jelly facing down with open cup facing the bottom. Correct?

[@georgeaddai9680]

Well made video . Great job . Which tool did you use to lift the larvae? Did you put the undated queen in a queen lees hive right away ?

[@beekeeper7535]

I've been a bee keeper for a little over 25 years I've never made my own queens I've always bought queens. I rent for pollination so I ain't got much time to make queens. Nowadays the bees have mites and beetles to deal with years ago an old bee keeper told me start running Russians they can deal with mites and beetle better than any bee. He was right. Also Russian bees tent to survive winter much better than any bee. But they are alot more aggressive. Of course I rent for pollination that alone can stress a hive. Making my own queens would have saved me THOUSANDS of dollars. Any just getting into bee keeping I suggest Russians to many times a new bee keeper with purchase everything needed and the bee die over winter or from mites and discourage the new keeper. Russians also produce more honey. I can definitely see why a easy going bee is easier to work with while grafting.

[@davidkoch733]

When you take the larva out can you press down on the adjoining cell to get the larvae out better. Great video on raising queens.

[@brandonsbees1]

Great question. A lot of the times I do press down on the adjacent cell to see the one I'm trying to get from better!

[@fishmut]

I have seen a few grafting videos , yours has the best footage of up close with larva and very clear of what they look like and actually getting them out of the cells , only a question probably many ask is why their take is not as good as it should be , seeing your larvae on what you picked out for the cells yet still approximately 50% take so that million dollar question why they didn’t accept the others has me stumped. Awesome video this one , 👍

[@ME_MeAndMyBees]

Best Close-Up Video Footage ! Awesome. . . So many Folk shake and wobble their Camera's: that will not Focus either ! Sure I couldn't do the Camera work either. Do want to try & attempt some Grafting over Splits (or Indenting Comb) to make a HQL Hive 'make' me some Queen Cells. . . 😎 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2024 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you very much! You should try and try again... I don't think the technique will ever be perfect but yes, I do like the process of indenting the comb also! Best of beekeeping in 2024!

[@natalieweneck2159]

Those are gonna be some amazing queens! Well done!

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you!

[@jwalker7068]

Those are some nice looking cells.

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you! Appreciate that a lot.

[@donaltland7957]

Are you using a lighted magnifier to film this and to see to do the grafting? This looks easy if one can see the larvae like that.

[@brandonsbees1]

I don't use a magnifier when grafting as I can see in the cells with the naked eye. I know of other beekeepers who buy prescription glasses just for this process.

[@donaltland7957]

What camera did you use to film this?@@brandonsbees1

[@rodrenegadesofdirt923]

Thanks for the info. I appreciate it. I have one question is do you leave your cell builder closed in all the time? Thank you

[@brandonsbees1]

You're welcome hope you enjoyed it! I always leave an entrance for these cell builders. For bees to come and go and to regulate heat I never completely enclose them without an escape. Thanks much!

[@amos3three941]

First time viewer and that was a wonderful and clear video, thanks, you should do well. Where did you buy your queen cells?

[@brandonsbees1]

They are JZ BZ queen cell cups that I previously purchased from Mann Lake. Thank you for the kind comment.

[@Bee_Cathy]

Great info. I’m confused you said not to flip upside down but when you put in the hive did they not get turned upside down? I may have misunderstood how you were inserting the graft initially. Ty

[@kiqueenbees]

He's talking about the larvae being inserted onto the bottom of the plastic cell. Slide the end of the tool under the larvae, lift, and push the larvae onto the bottom of the plastic cell. The larvae stays with the royal jelly, and is still on top, as seen originally in the comb.

[@Bee_Cathy]

Thank you I now understand after watching a few times. Next year I'm trying this. Ty

[@Bee_Cathy]

@@kiqueenbeesthanks for your help.

[@patrickbrewer2794]

Awesome video. Really enjoyed very informative. Great job!!

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you so much I appreciate you watching!

[@serifdogan5705]

Thank you, Brandon. I didn't know that Jzbz cups are used in the channels of honeycomb top frames. Thank you for this useful information.

[@brandonsbees1]

I use them on the channels for ease. They can also be used on the comb themselves also! Thanks!

[@s.fla.beekeepingmangoesand1517]

Great vid. Are JZBZ cups reusable or do you toss them after a single use? Thanks for posting.

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you and I don't reuse the JZBZ cups. I have heard from other beekeepers that the take of the cells goes down and then I hear of others who use warm water to "clean" the cups to reuse them.

[@cindyhockenberry-lw9gz]

Wow that's awesome!!! 8 of them made, so cool! 😊

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you! 😁

[@bradhiebert6403]

That's awesome. I want to try making queens this year. Very informative video. You make it look so easy.

[@brandonsbees1]

Hello Brad, You should make some or try and try again. It's very satisfying and lots of practice helps. Thanks, and let me know how those queens turn out!

[@bradhiebert6403]

@@brandonsbees1 I will do that. I want to expand my hive knowledge and this is one great way. Nobody here does that. They just buy more queens.

[@AndyChan-kl2nc]

Thanks for the step by step video.

[@ujjwalupreti778]

One question on my mind is that the direction of the queen cell is towards the gravity (surface), the developing larvae that are grafted will not fell down ??

[@brandonsbees1]

Good idea/ point but the cup is face down in order for the bees to draw it out. Im not sure why they do it that way but a queen cell going down vertically is how they make queen cells!

[@mikeschulz6748]

This is absolutely the best example I have seen of all the videos I have watched. Great job.

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you Mike! I really appreciate the support.

[@mikeschulz6748]

The towel that you cover the queen cells with is that just a dry towel or do you have it damp?

[@brandonsbees1]

@@mikeschulz6748 Its a hot, damp towel. Larvae have an issue with humidity control (needs to stay high humidity) but are more flexible when it comes to temperature! I cover mine to try and keep as much humidity as possible.

[@tingzky]

I have a couple of questions How long does it take to emerge from the cell? Do we need to keep in a hive until it fully get matured?

[@brandonsbees1]

From egg laid to hatching it takes 16 days for the queen to emerge on average. We graft when they go from egg to larvae around the 3- or 4-day mark so for me on average it takes 13 or 12 days for them to emerge after grafting. I keep my queen cells in individual roll cages in an incubator until they are about to emerge. If you keep them in the hive, I recommend something to keep them separated in case one emerges early and tries to get rid of the rest of your cells!

[@beemanrunning977]

Great video! Was your cell builder created with frames from several hives or did you remove the queen from a queenright hive? If you removed the queen, how do you store her? Thanks

[@brandonsbees1]

Hey Beeman, I skimmed the extra frames of brood and shook nurse bees all from multiple hives to create the builder before grafting! Thanks for the kind comment!

[@elli637]

Wow, this is a great video , you made the process seem a lot easier,.It’s awesome to see exactly how you did it and the instruction as you go thru. Thanks for this. Where did you get your tool.

[@brandonsbees1]

Glad it was helpful! Trying to make the information simple. The tool I got either from Amazon or Mannlake and it is the "chinese grafting tool". Thanks for watching!

[@melissaaudler8975]

Thank you for the video. You can really see what your doing. Making queens are on my list of to does when i get good at my bees. Im just not at that point yet. Im sure ill have all the tools way before im ready to make them 😂

[@brandonsbees1]

Hello Melissa, Thank you I hope it’s easy to see! When you get to that point let me know how they turn out!

[@brucesbees]

Nice job. I hope to get into some queen rearing in the future.

[@brandonsbees1]

Thanks Bruce I appreciate that a lot! You should get into it and I'd enjoy talking to you about it. If you have any questions or just want to talk about bees/queens feel free to reach out at [e-mail]. I'd love to start branching out and learn different things.

[@brucesbees]

@@brandonsbees1 I subscribed. I look forward to following your journey. Are you familiar with Greg at Natures Image Farm and Brian at Castle Hives?

[@brandonsbees1]

@@brucesbees appreciate that Bruce and yes I’m familiar with Brian and Greg! I think Greg does the learning yards and he is in Ohio also. I need to connect with them since we are all from Ohio for the opportunity to connect.

[@brucesbees]

@@brandonsbees1 yes you should. Brian is up around Cleveland. And Greg is in the Zanesville area.

[@brandonsbees1]

@@brucesbees I will reach out to them both! Hope you don't mind me mentioning you pointed me in their direction! P.S. Maybe I'll have the pleasure of getting to have you on a live stream in the future when the season slows down.

[@ThomasFamilyLife]

Good job, I’m going to do some grafting in next spring

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you. Let me know how it goes!

[@QuigleysBees]

You have a lot of information covered in only 9 minutes. The cells look wonderful and I'm sure you're happy with the results. My question is what do you do with the extra virgin queens if you get a better-than-average take? Do you have a favorite mating nuc you use?

[@brandonsbees1]

Hello John, If I want to increase by a certain number of colonies but have more than that as extra queen wise ill double up the cells in the mating nuc and let the bees decide which one they want or let the stronger queen take over. The company "Dadant" has a "Deep Queen Rearing Hotel Select Assembled" that I use for mating boxes and have loved them ever since! Appreciate the comment and great questions!

[@viques254]

Men your bees are gentle,,damn in Africa we deal with mad bees,,crazy!!

[@zerunklo]

Id go for a little younger larva.. I was told find moon shape.. not C shape.. They look like good queens though!

[@brandonsbees1]

The younger you can go the better! Its easier for me to not "flip" the larvae with the C shaped! thanks for the comment!

[@slippersmomma]

This is very interesting. But can you do this without those cups and that lil tooly. You would still need to buy those. Is there any way to do this without buying the cups?

[@brandonsbees1]

This is a grafting method specifically. There are other ways to raise queens but, in my experience, I like to have them develop the queens as early as possible and this creates no other competition for my grafts such as other young larvae that would be in the hive! Some people make wax cells out of candle wax instead of buying the JZs BZs cups. I have never tried them but it's possible to do so.

[@WaltWW]

Excellent video, I just subscribed!

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you so much! That means a lot to me!

[@apiary_iran]

Great

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you

[@Logan-sx6sj]

Wow, its very cool, May i know your Bees species and sub species ?

[@brandonsbees1]

Hello Logan, thank you for the comment! But without running a lab test for genetics on our stock, the only thing I can state is that we have a mixture of Carniolan and Italian stock.

[@dailylife6432]

Great detail thank you

[@brandonsbees1]

You're welcome and thanks for the comment

[@bc2578]

I saw a video or read an article years ago where a guy intentionally flipped half of his larvae and the take rate was the same.

[@brandonsbees1]

I need to test that out then!

[@DonaldRogersBaldEagle]

Nice job, thanks for the video.

[@brandonsbees1]

Thanks, I appreciate that. Working on getting the information in the description per your other comment!

[@robertking5701]

Makes me hungry for a peanut butter and royal jelly sandwich

[@Hurtzilla]

Nice video. Made it look easy.

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you much I appreciate that!

[@seymorewright4176]

How do I place the queen cell in each hive . How to position it between the frames or what?

[@brandonsbees1]

Hey Seymore, Here is a link to a video I made that will help answer the how to place the queen cells in each hive or how I do it. Some like to put the cell on the comb around brood to help keep the cell warm. Try different ways out and hope it goes well! kzbin.info/www/bejne/jGO5qWWlf9Gaq7c

[@seymorewright4176]

@@brandonsbees1 hello I mean when you put the egg in the cups when grafting .how do place the cups upside-down or up right? Explain to me I want t o try grafting.

[@brandonsbees1]

@@seymorewright4176 the cell will be facing down so the open end down.

[@DonaldRogersBaldEagle]

Hey just a thought, how about listing you source for your tools for those that may want to give it a try?

[@brandonsbees1]

Hey Bee Democracy, I think that is a great idea. I'll work on getting some information in the description of the video for anyone interested in using these tools! Thanks for the helpful comment.

[@brandonsbees1]

I added some information in the description. Thanks again.

[@Uberchicranch]

How do the bees know to put royal jelly in there?

[@Uplift2023]

Looking forward to the next video. Now that you have the Queens forming, what happens next?

[@brandonsbees1]

Great question! I like to make "mating nucs". These are two frames of bees that have resources and brood emerging to take care of the queen cell. When the queen emerges, she will either mate and lay... or sadly not make it/not mate. From there I can give more resources to these laying queens resulting in another colony gained.

[@Uplift2023]

@Brandon's Bees Excellent. Make a video please.

[@aarizmunshi]

love u

[@Tinyshooterbill]

Is there a how to book that you would recommend gor step by step wueen rearing?

[@brandonsbees1]

Thats a great question. The book that has helped me the most would be, "Queen Rearing Essentials". I can't remember if this is a step-by-step book but it gets more into the weeds about queens! I would start there and then check out my queen mating nuc made simple video. I put a graphic in the video that shows timelines of grafting that could be helpful. Hope this helps! Thanks.

[@Tinyshooterbill]

Thanks, I'll look into it

[@Losbitiboys4441]

Is those cordovan bees or italian bees cause those are the 2 bees tjat are really gentle not aggressive

[@kakakhankhan8529]

Any way great. . . . . we lost our . local bee becouse of swarm ...so .....my question it that if i have queen. just put in to that box then they creat colony or ?

[@brandonsbees1]

sorry to hear about the swarm. The queen bee needs worker bees to help support the young as the queen doesn't take care of the young herself. Usually people buy packages of bees (3 lbs. of bees) with their queen. There are different routes I would look around in your area to see what works best for you.

[@slippersmomma]

Do you ever taste the royal jelly?

[@brandonsbees1]

I have not but it's on my TO DO list! Just haven't yet!

[@richardhaen]

Very good video sir, I would like to try that but my one eye sight it very poor. I have got cheaters but I don’t think it would help. Again very good Thanks

[@brandonsbees1]

Hey Richard, Yeah I agree it can be tough to see down in the cells sometimes. On the bright side there is more than one way to raise queens. Thanks for the support!

[@scottparrish2422]

Nice resolution

[@brandonsbees1]

Thank you !

[@tomazkant3607]

Use Carnica - from Slovenia and you will win not Ligustica !

[@jimhendrix7776]

So there's eggs that look like rice, then there's hatched eggs?

[@brandonsbees1]

yes there is an egg that is in that stage for three days. After that, the egg will hatch into a small larva.

[@benjamindejonge3624]

I don’t mind so much gentleness, I’m more in hygienic and healthy and resistant genetic colony, honey production is probably my last goal. Though a Africanist bees are far off my favourite’s.

[@brandonsbees1]

Hey Benjamin, I think those are great traits to look for and ideal for strong colonies. If it was up to me I’d pick much more than just a handful of treats! Thanks for sharing.

[@apveening]

@@brandonsbees1 You selected those new queens for desired traits, but how about the drones they will mate with?

[@CrossroadToCountry]

Good video.. stop looking at the viewer on your camera.