Making your OWN queens! Mating nuc setup - queen cell placement, and more!

Checking out prime queen cells!
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#Beekeeping #Beekeeper #Honeybee

[@kathyhathaway8823]

I know these queen rearing videos has some age on them but I have enjoyed them. I am still trying to get my nerves up to do this . Purchasing queens is to high an I know I have heard you say it a million times that our queens are a lot better. I do not think I have ever purchased a queen that was worth a crap . They are getting me by but that is it . Thanks

[@Neutsie]

3rd year here. Ill be doing this myself this year, keeps it simple, and i can only really manage around 20 hives by myself anyway. Thanks for the video series!

[@royschrader8003]

Mr. K, I always enjoy your videos. You have a great helper. Very steady with that cam. Happy Mother's day young lady.

[@kamonreynolds]

Thanks Roy she is the Best for sure!

[@ginomorris4873]

Definitely a happy mother's day to your mrs. Very informative as usual thank kamon and laurel..

[@simonrouse3995]

Once again great info Kamon, you and Lorrell work so hard we are so grateful for your time and effort you put into these vlogs..........

[@charitablemiraclebeekeeper1200]

Happy Mothers Day from Charitable Miracle Beekeepers One Love, Peace & Fortitude

[@shovalravitzki3230]

Thank you Kamon! that's was really helpful

[@richardkuhn8115]

Really Good guys! Appreciate it! Great information. Happy Mother's Day, Laurel, even though the day is well spent. Blessings.

[@gingergard579]

This is so amazing

[@mattjohnston4479]

Thanks for the video! Hope y’all had a happy Mother’s Day!

[@Digger927]

Good morning Kamon and family!

[@geffivey6414]

Those are great looking cells. Great job and great video explaining the process.

[@1meinleben]

You say almost immediately that they have eaten the pollen patty and might need to give them another one, you also have a feeder jar on the hive. Then you state on more than one occasions "I haven't even been feeding them. So which is it?

[@boba7794]

Kamon, if you use a narrower cell bar frame the bees won't wax up your cells like that. Either lop off the 'spacer ears' from your current frame or make a new one. Blue Sky Bee Supply sells one that's the right thickness. Then leave no gap between the cell bar frame and adjacent frames when you stick it into the cell builder.

[@russellkoopman3004]

Richard Noel from France does that also. He cuts them to be as wide as the queen cup and he puts in a frame of undrawn foundation in also like Kamon said he should have done.

[@kevinjackson1840]

great informative video kamon, happy mothers day laurel.sorry its late as you well know we all get busy with life. have a great day.

[@allanwelch4216]

Thanks again for a great video.

[@bryanroberts]

Happy Mothers day Laurel!!

[@yasminnilima2366]

I am so waiting for better weather! I will really try ny best grafting this summer. I got a lot done yeasterday with planting berries and fruit. It is raining still. Hoping it will stay raining and not snowing. Thanks for doing theese good videos! Lot's of love from Sweden!

[@bryanzavada4926]

Just great information in all of your videos. I'm trying different queen rearing methods and gearing up to graft. Sorry about the tough spring your having. You are usually so positive. Have faith in your skills and adaptability to figure it out.

[@beebob1279]

Excellent as always

[@rossg87]

Would be remiss if Laurel wasn’t wished a Happy Mother’s Day!

[@johntanner6229]

Great video Kamon!

[@jamesreese7870]

Great info !

[@badassbees3680]

I have had cells abandoned to cluster before,was strong too- now I'm cautious early spring.I agree Nucs are lil gentle toddlers, I have 4 deep ,with 12 frames brood ! Yeehaw, lol

[@jimmyjapa6368]

FANTASTIC,,,,,,,,,,,,, IS THE WORD FOR THE DAY!,,,,,, FANTASTIC,,,,,

[@SpiritualButNotReligious]

Thanks for the video

[@donbearden1953]

Laurel, HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!! Thanks to the two for you for producing the video. I’m getting my nerve up to try Queen rearing. Do you think a 2 frame nuc would be ok for attempting to raise a few queen cells?

[@christianshannon3943]

I buy my nuc boxes from Mann Lake since they do make theirs about 3/8 “ wider . I too like the extra inside room. Kelley Bees and Dadant have the tight ones . Now Kelley Bees are officially been merged as Mann Lake . I have recently received the order for queen rearing. Just going to try to do a handful of queens from my strongest hives . It seems complicated yet the bees make it simple . They raise their queens in the same hives . As humans we have made it complicated, a separate cell builder and a separate finisher. Bahumbug , just have a congested queen less nuc . Then I will continue like you do . I can’t wait to try thirteen queen cells and see how they turn out.

[@trichard5106]

Thanks !!

[@gerryfelix5948]

Kamon, great series on queen rearing for us with modest apiaries. I have used this system successfully last year and early this year. I wonder if you could shed some light on how long you can keep that starter/finisher going. Seems as though, with an occasional addition of nurse bees, the answer could be quite a while. If as long as 3 weeks, you could do a second graft about when the first batch of queens has established themselves. Keep up the good work, best out there along with Ian.

[@alexdunlap831]

Hello Kamon, How do you get queen cells off of the bar... without damaging them? Thank you for your help!

[@nrg16108]

We are beginners in N. Ca.with 2 brood boxes 8 frames each and one super. Installed a nuc in it. When do we know to feed the colony?

[@ke6gwf]

I would leave the nuc in a single brood box until they are filling it and needing the second one, which you then put on top so they can move up onto it. Don't put the super on until they have stored some honey in the brood boxes for the nurse bees and a honey flow has started. Put a pollen patty on top of the brood nest, and 1 to 1 sugar syrup in a frame or top cover feeder, and keep those available whenever there is a dearth, or to help them build up the hive.

[@johnemmenecker4859]

after admitting they ate their patty and pulling a feeder "I wasnt even feeding them" 🤣

[@rossg87]

Would you treat the parent hive that swarmed if the colony was only left with queen cells after the swarm departed?

[@kamonreynolds]

I would hit them with OAV after the queen comes back and starts laying. If there is a virgin in there they could kill her if you disturb the colony.

[@younginsong984]

Where did you get that hat? Look efficient!

[@antoniomata4265]

Hey Kamon, I’m a beginner bee keeper and it is the middle of May. I have followed your videos and very inspired by your knowledge. One thing is that I was observing my hive and I seen a queen cup on one of my frames. I only noticed it on one. What does that mean?? Are they getting to replace the queen or a they getting ready to swarm??

[@kamonreynolds]

Strong colonies can have a 20 or more queen cups scattered around the brood nest. Whenever the colony decides to swarm or if queen is failing they will raise queens in the Queen cups but 99% of the year they just sit there empty

[@hisdudenessfirst]

How early in the season do you begin raising queens? Great videos!

[@T0tenkampf]

Just watched all QR videos and I'm curious how much bee resources are recommended for even one round of rearing? Lets assume we get 15 good queens but plan for 20...if we use a bare minimum of 2 frames of food and brood per mating nuc then we are looking at having 40 full frames available plus what is needed for the nurse bee saturated starter and a finisher. Would you say the bare minimum inventory of bees should be 15 to 20 full deep boxes organized into however many hives?

[@richardkuhn8115]

How long do you leave the freshly grafted larvae in the Nuc with All the nurse bees before pulling them?

[@kamonreynolds]

10 days unless I am using and incubator then I pull them out on day 6 or 7

[@verchellesadoo8334]

I was thinking that if you insert the cell Tray at an angle the bees won't build webbing comb and if they do build they would do it below and wouldn't be webbing the cells..just a thought

[@stufarnham]

What frames did you put in the nuc when you built it, and in what order? Good video, thanks. Stu

[@kamonreynolds]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aorQgIJpedp7bas Here is how we set it up. Basically you just need to shake alot of nurse bees in and for them to be hopelessly queenless. Also Stu I saw where barnyard bees was talking about if there is alot of drones that means the bees are gearing up to swarm That is not at all true. I had colonies that had more drones than that in Febuary and they are 30 frames strong now haven't even tried to swarm. That colony does not need split it needs some decent combs and to be allowed to grow. The size of the cell determines what the queen lays PERIOD. If she comes across a drone cell in a dearth she STILL will lay in it but the bees will cannibalize the eggs if they feel like they can't expend the energy on raising drones. She measures it and if it is too large for a female she drops an unfertilized egg into that cell. The reason he has so many drones in that little colony of his is due to the type of foundation (or lack there of). Beekeepers of old switched to foundation because it gave straighter stronger combs and it reduced the drone production. Some colonies will rear WAY to many if left to their own devices. Sorry but I just can't stand the false info sometimes.

[@marvelous1492]

Are you able to see the royal jelly because the queen cups are clear? I wasn't able to tell in the video.

[@ellenl.5581]

Would you put a swarm cell in a red protective cage while she hatches? I've heard swarm cells are the best ones.

[@ncmountainadventures]

My wife wanted to know if we could come out for a visit sometime after this virus crap has settled down??

[@gerryfelix5948]

Kamon, how long can you keep a starter/finisher colony going?

[@kamonreynolds]

As long as you supply it with healthy nurse bees. However over time you get alot of older bees and after a month or so the nuc can be moved and another nuc that could benefit from a boost can be moved in it's place. The new nuc gets a huge forager force and our starter finisher is back to all nurse bees again.

[@gerryfelix5948]

Kamon Reynolds - Tennessee's Bees Thanks, Kamon. Best out there along with Ian.

[@mikeries8549]

Have read the nicot book along with queen rearing essentials and others. Have done lots of splits and tried grafting with no luck. Weak eyes. Have tried Nicot twice and just can't get a queen to lay in the cage. Is there some sort of voo doo Jedi spell or something? ?

[@russellkoopman3004]

You could try notching a hive after removing the queen. Even with my poor eyes I can do it.

[@researcherAmateur]

Nicot cage is no good. You nide a Jenter cage. Then you can time it for 2h larva. Somting thet can't be done with grafting. Jenter is the best cage sistem ther is..

[@PIEI-Romania]

What kind of queen’s do you raise?

[@RobertBrown-tx8xk]

I know this is a little bit off the subject of your video. But when you use an incubator how do you keep the humidity up to the proper level and what is your humidity percentage?

[@kamdenmcleanmusic]

I don’t know the percentage, but I know he puts in a sponge full of water

[@George-nx5lo]

You ever try queen right finisher hives?

[@kamonreynolds]

Yes they are my favorite.

[@charitablemiraclebeekeeper1200]

That method is for doing more than 30 cells

[@jimmyjapa6368]

WEATHER WEATHER WEATHER , ,COLD,,,,,,, WIND 1000MPH,,,,,,MORE RAIN,,,,, COLD,,,,,,,

[@jbshomestead7694]

I am needing a Queen really bad

[@darbdoppleganger]

How can I buy your bees. I got my first nuke this year and I think I got screwed. Not many bees with no queen. I'm terribly worried

[@ShadowWalker3711]

I'd love to get some Tennessee bees too even just a queen I live in Pa and I I've gotten so much info from this channel and 628dirtrooster I want to have a hive of bees from each

[@researcherAmateur]

Thet freme shud be 17mm fin, or fick as thet plastic bar. Wher is that entuzijazam you have. Nature will give, not this year.. my drt will be olmost 5 manth long. Beautiful

[@kamonreynolds]

You are right I do need a thinner frame I think!

[@researcherAmateur]

@@kamonreynolds we use to have thet problem. After, with the THINNER freme it stopt. One day i will relearn how to write english.. my fone remenber wrong writen words. Whot a year, i cood see it coming in february. 4.5 manth of summer. Thank God we have ader jobs. You'r cood still doo samthing. Here the drt started. I realy hate early years. Teke care and be strong

[@kamonreynolds]

@@researcherAmateur I hate long summer dearths also! Thanks hope things get better for us both!