Queen Rearing - The Miller Method and Cloake Board - Part 1

We follow on our initial explanation about the Miller method with a step by step tutorial showing you how to raise a few queens using the Miller method incorporated with the use of a Cloake board.
Each step carefully explained and demonstrated to help you understand not just the method but also the reason for each step.
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[@pauldonnelly6133]

Thanks Stewart for the part 2 video. Pity it didn't result in more queen cells for you but it is a great learning experience for us. Looking forward to learning about the Alley method. Thank you for taking the time to go through these different methods. It is very interesting.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Paul, Thanks for commenting. I think I left way too much comb and this probably included drone cells which I think the workers then tore down. I think sharing both the good bits and the not so good bits is really important, it shows everyone that it doesn't always work out but hey, that's beekeeping! Wait 'til you see the Alley method, much improved. Stewart

[@markrendall1189]

Great video, makes much more sense than trying to understand this method in its written form.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Mark, Thanks for the comments. I always find it easier watching something than reading about it and trying to visualise it. Stewart

[@farquharveitch7287]

really great video will be trying this thank you

[@beemanrunning977]

This clears up so many questions. Can't wait to try this in a few months. Thanks Stewart!

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi B.R., I'm glad the video was of use to you. Let me know how you get on. Stewart

[@chrisoneil2459]

Hi Stewart, Great Video from me reading books on beekeeping it starts making more sense with your video. Look forward to part 2

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Chris, Thanks for commenting, the next part will be out soon! Stewart

[@beemanrunning977]

Excellent video and great explanation. Much appreciated.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Kim, Thanks for commenting, it didn't work out as well this time for me mainly because I think I left drone cells on the cut edge and these were torn down by the workers. Have you tried this method? Stewart

[@herbertjacobs8422]

Love this video. I’m hoping to do a littler queen rearing next season.

[@draintheswamp1700]

I used a queen excluder with a med box of capped honey and a box of brood on top of that 10 days later I cut the cells and shook most of the hive threw a excluder 4 hours later introduced the grafts and I was 74 good queens out of 88 grafts

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi DTS, That's a very successful uptake of queen cells, excellent job. If I'm grafting I usually only go with 10-20 cell cups as I don't really have the need for many more at one time. Maybe I will start producing some for other people next season. Stewart

[@draintheswamp1700]

The Norfolk Honey Company thank you for the reply I used mike palmers method for raising Queens if you follow him to a tee the queens will be the best you ever had people comment to him that there mad because they have more bees that they know what to do with them. That hive you opened is a good looking hive do you use treatment for mites because this year I'm using oxalic acid and I pray for more that 10 percent alive in the spring

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi DTS, Mike Palmer is one of the beekeepers who's methods and knowledge I follow and respect. I consider myself somewhat of a beginner compared to him! I used Oxalic Acid over the Winter and will be using a mid Summer formic acid treatment called "Mite Away Quick Strips" in the next week or two. This combination seems to be the most effective routine I have followed by some distance. Stewart

[@draintheswamp1700]

The Norfolk Honey Company thanks for the info that sounds like a good middle Summer treatment and then oxalic in the fall when brood is cut back Thank you sir

[@pavlingenchev167]

It's a good way to produce powerful queen. But when you put the top box and the frame, and how long time you wait to start.

[@nickmilton]

Great video Stuart. Can I please ask 1) at what stage do you remove the clearer board from under the supers and 2) at what stage do you turn the lower brood box back around to face forward again?

[@lintonmacnamara1469]

Another good and interesting clip . A new method for me so interesting

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Linton, I hope you are well. Thanks for commenting. I've always found it will produce a few decent queen cells but if you want lots maybe another method is best. Stewart

[@kennylecroy9706]

Why the queen excluder on the cloak board would a solid board be the same ? I only know how to do the slow walk away split,thanks

[@glennlocke8226]

Great video Stewart.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Glenn, Thanks for commenting. Stewart

[@SamuelLimawan]

Thanks for the tutorial. I'm going to establish 2 strong colony, do I need to place queen excluder between the two deep boxes? If I install the excluder, can I get eggs / larvae in the top box?

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Samuel, As long as there is a sufficient gap between the queenright box beneath and the top box then yes. Stewart

[@colinburrough5621]

Another excellent video. Do you think that there might be an advantage to letting the bees choose their queen from say 2 or 3 queen cells in each 3 frame nuc rather than you picking one to develop into a queen - they are not likely to swarm as they might in a full sized hive if two queens emerged?

[@pauldonnelly6133]

Hi Stewart Thanks for the very interesting video. Looking forward to seeing Part 2 plus the other methods. Sorry if my question has been answered in the videos and I missed it, but why do you keep the two brood boxes stacked on top of each other once you have the cloaking board in? It looks like they are then acting as 2 separate colonies from that point on and could be put on a different stand rather than just rotated 180 degrees. Are they still stacked ready to reunite the top with the queen once the queen cells are built? Regards Paul

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Paul, You are exactly right, the cloake board does effectively create two separate colonies initially but then when the cloake board is removed the colony becomes one again. You could simply split the colony and make one queenless and use that for queen rearing but for beekeepers with limited equipment and space the cloake board method is ideal. The cloake board stimulates the emergency queen rearing impulse but removing it switches the bees to supercedure impulse and should produce bigger, fatter queen cells and hopefully better queens. Stewart

[@pauldonnelly6133]

thank you Stewart

[@jcmac185]

How did the upper box have queen cells with any thing in them? How did the queen lay in these with the excluder in place?

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi JC Mac, When to box is placed in the upper position I add a few frames of emerging brood to top up the number of bees in the box, sometimes these frames have some young larvae or eggs scattered around and these can be used to make queens cells. Stewart

[@greggpalmer8006]

Hi Stewart why did you turn the bottom brood box through 180 please?

[@mrvolcada5355]

So that the flying bees return to the upper box and cause congestion, ideal for queen rearing

[@colinburrough5621]

Apologies - the comment below was intended for the On the Spot Queen Rearing Part 4 video (where you had a DLQ - don't know how it ended up here.

[@katepaterson8498]

Hello. Thank you for your video. Two questions: 1. You say you put the larvae in the top box to encourage the nurse bees up into the box ready to look after the Miller frame but then keep the board in so there’s no communication between brood boxes meaning they can’t move up. The bees going into the top box are foragers flying in, or bees from the supers ie not nurse bees. How does this work? 2. Removing queen cells doesnt stop swarming, and some of yours were pretty advanced. How do you prevent swarming in the bottom box? Is it just the much reduced number of bees as they all go into the top box? Thanks

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Kate, thanks for your comments. By the time the cloake board goes in during the initial process some nurse bees will have migrated to the top box and the cloake board is removed after a short period so more bees can move between the two. The bottom box is drained of flying bees so without them the tendancy to swarm is greatly reduced if not prevented. The colony switches to producing supercedure cells rather than swarm cells and so life goes on without swarming. Stewart

[@MikeOfKorea]

I had never heard of this before. Thanks for the video!

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi MikeOfKorea, Thanks for commenting, do you think you will try it? Stewart

[@MikeOfKorea]

I don't start beekeeping until next April in Michigan, so I need to master the basics, but I have put this in my bookmarks to revisit later.

[@matthewschoenhardt9269]

Stewart what kind of gloves are you using? Why will the bees not sting you through those latex(?) gloves? Is it it a smell thing?

[@Cannuck303]

Couldn't help but notice it sounds like an old warbird in the background at 23:30, sort of like the Lancaster that occasionally flies over our property. probably just my imagination, as the microphone isn't picking it up all that clearly.

[@younginsong984]

I understood everything except how bees in 3 supers get out and goes down to the place we want? Do the supers have holes? Then it will be appreciated if those holes can be shown and the board? right below super what it is?

[@marcleblanc7021]

I very new to this. But if i understand correctly. You ultimately doing the same a double screen divideing board ?

[@noahriding5780]

So I was getting ready for this and then... I realized sometimes I have cracks and gaps that are imperfect with my hive boxes with where they meet each other on the sides' edges. This is because I have homemade equipment. I'm worried about how much cracks can be and how far the cracks can be without queen pheromone penetrating the second upper box while the cloak board is in place with the slot closed. How much gap is going to mess this up? (Cracks aren't big, but I don't know how much is going to mess up the procedure.) Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Thanks.

[@PatrickPease]

as long as the floor blocks the smell you're good

[@StephenBiggers]

Just started Beekeeping with my first single hive about 2 weeks ago. I started feeding them as I was told and a week later I found at least 4 Queen cells present. I haven't located the Queen yet but have seen capped brood. I added a second brood box so they would have more room and removed a couple of the Queen cells for fear they might swarm. My concern was leaving the hive queenless. no roaring presently. What should I do? Destroy all the peanut shaped queen cell I find? Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Stephen, thanks for commenting. Did the queen cells have eggs or larvae in them? Very often workers will produce rudimentary queen cups without putting anything in them, these can be removed or left. They are not queen cells until there is viable larvae in them. When you inspected did you see eggs in any cells in the brood box? This is always a good way to know that the queen is present even if you don't see her. Adding a second brood box will help as long as all the brood frames in the bottom box are drawn otherwise they may just build upwards rather than sideways and upwards. If there are eggs present in the brood frames I would remove all queen cell that I found, leaving any will allow them to swarm. Are you sure you are looking at queen cells and not drone cells? I'm sure you recognise the difference but beginner beekeepers can panic and mistake drone cells for queen cells. I hope that helps. Good luck with your beekeeping. Stewart

[@StephenBiggers]

In 2 of the cells there was larva inside which was very white and liquid when crushed. These cells are long oblong and shaped like a peanut shell. I will look for the Queen today. Previously I saw capped brood but did not find eggs or larva due to a lot of bees.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Stephen, Certainly sounds like queen cells. Time to be brave and shake some bees of a frame to confirm if eggs are present or not! Find a frame where there are lots of empty cells near the middle of the brood box and give them a gentle shake to get rid of the bees then look to the bottom of the cells to see if you can see those tiny eggs that look like grains of rice. If you see eggs and you are certain you see eggs you need to destroy the queen cells before they are capped or the colony may swarm. Tricky for me without seeing it first hand but do the check for eggs as soon as you are able. Good luck. Stewart

[@StephenBiggers]

Thanks Stewart for all the prompt advice. It is greatly appreciated. I may sound over eager but I told my wife that if I wanted to fail at a hobby at my age I'd stick with golf. I went back today and after removing 3 cells 3 days ago there were 2 more that looked like they were broken open. None were in tact. Found more capped brood and a few larvae. Saw several Drones but no Queen. I was instructed to use a large 4 gallon feeder in a super when I began. It seems that quite a bit of comb has syrup in it. Is this a problem for laying eggs for the Queen? Thanks again and cheers from Texas.

[@gabriele.preciadof.7076]

How long do you let the cloak board close once the miller frame has been introduced??

[@temesgenterefe464]

I have watched your video and learned a lot Thank you very much for your effort but I could not understand on a step where you added the two honey supper. Here the upper supper has lid/cover from the upper part and you also put the lower supper on the lower lid so how could the bees in these supper go out and in since there is no entrance??

[@wardster7]

Great videos. May i ask why you dont separate the dummy board and first frame? Does the queen never go in there? I’m learning a lot from you so keep it going! I’m rubbish at egg spotting, need glasses I think!

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Wardster7, Thanks for the comments. I check that frame last, if I find the queen I know she's not hiding in there but if not I am more cautious when I part the dummy board from the frame. Just a habit I've gotten into. Stewart

[@farquharveitch7287]

stewart how many bees do you put in the apidea before putting in the queen cell

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi, I normally use a cup of bees or there abouts. Stewart

[@mvthoneyfarm5038]

good MVT HONEY BEE FARM

[@andyhinson5043]

Great video very interesting and informative thanks Stewart Chris Grimsby

[@melpratesmetodorecuo7924]

👏👏👏👏 show, Tmj e inscrito 👏🤝

[@wayneparker9782]

I don't understand....after going through all the trouble of making a cell builder ..... you toke bees from the cell builder and shook them into the brood box?????

[@Charlie-Bee]

You remove all bees and then allow the nurse bees up encouraged by the presence of larvae. Once you close the cloak any of the older bees that came up too will migrate out and enter back into the bottom entrance after flight leaving a "queenless" hive full of the right bees for the job. Hope that helped

[@idahopotato5837]

If you are trying to queen the upper brood box why not just transfer queen cells from the bottom instead of destroying them?

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi David, I'm not, this is a queen rearing set up to produce multiple queens. Stewart

[@chriselliott1702]

what is the purpose of destroying all the existing queen cells, and then taking all these steps to create more queen cells?

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Chris, Using this method it allows the beekeeper to take control of the queen rearing timetable exactly so you know precisely when cells will be capped and emergence is due. Using a frame from a colony of known traits and qualities allows you to attempt to produce an improvement in your honeybee stock. This means you can use pretty much any colonies in your apiary as a cell builder colony but you need to destroy the queen cells produced by the queen in the cell builder colony. Stewart

[@jackpalmer2796]

V*5

[@kenankudic4422]

Is this new zealand method same as cloake's method

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Kenan, The Miller method is generally attributed to an American beekeeper, Dr. C.C. Miller, the Cloake board is a design by New Zealand beekeeper, Harry Cloake. Stewart

[@greggpalmer8006]

Apologies I should have waited for your explanation.

[@TheNorfolkHoneyCo]

Hi Gregg, No problem, hope the video was easy to understand and useful. Stewart

[@maroufzakaria557]

God Almighta y in the Quran ""And your Lord inspired to the bee, "Take for yourself among the mountains, houses, and among the trees and [in] that which they construct. (69) Then eat from all the fruits and follow the ways of your Lord laid down [for you]." There emerges from their bellies a drink, varying in colors, in which there is healing for people. Indeed in that is a sign for people who give thought."

[@Irishtradchannel]

Childish

[@arnabbanerjee80]

But how does queen cells occur on the top box? Coz it was separated by Queen excluder?

[@wayneparker9782]

Again i don't understand....by putting open brood in the top box would'nt that waste resources.. such as royal jelly.. where as the older brood demand more feeding than younger larvae which would also require more nurse bees?????