OTS Queen Rearing

[greig1983]

Anyone tried the OTS Queen rearing method: http://www.mdasplitter.com/

Thinking of trying this to make a split.

Wondering is it worth while also rearing a new queen using this method half way through the season in the old hive to hopefully have more eggs being laid - possibly remove the older queen?

[gavin]

Anyone tried the OTS Queen rearing method: http://www.mdasplitter.com/

Thinking of trying this to make a split.

Wondering is it worth while also rearing a new queen using this method half way through the season in the old hive to hopefully have more eggs being laid - possibly remove the older queen?

In the States they do things like walk-away splits which are not favoured here. There are scores of variants of queen rearing and I don't see much special about On The Spot although I haven't read through all of it.

Deliberately removing queens part-way through the season isn't really good management. Many colonies will try to swarm in May, June or July. Watch out for the signs, and work with them to renew the queen and avoid losing the swarm with the old one.

[fatshark]

Not tried it, but read through the 'manual' some time ago ... it involves a combination of protecting some larvae in cells with killing other, then breaking down the cell wall below the cells you want raised as QC's. I hope the bullets he uses to protect the cells are a little more difficult to come by in the UK. I think I've read elsewhere that you can encourage QC production - in a queenless colony - by simply breaking down the sidewall of cells with the hive tool.

A simple vertical split offers a number of advantages ... you keep the colony together until you know the new queen is a good 'un and can then unite for queen replacement or move away for making increase. You require less equipment. The Drone Ranger and other aficionados of the Snelgrove boards can provide lots more useful information.

Try these for starters perhaps:
http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/showthread.php?644-Horsley-v-Snelgrove
http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/showthread.php?1928-Snelgrove

[Feckless Drone]

I looked though the site and a few of the pdfs - its an established approach but not as much fun as watching the fat beeman on UTUBE cutting up comb and setting up for Q-cell preparation. If you did not "notch" and just set up a Q-less colony (the walk away split Gavin mentioned), or you could add frames with eggs and young larva if there was a particular line you wanted to raise, then the bees will draw several Q-cells themselves.

You might find it interesting to search out the Hopkins method where you put the frame lying on top of the colony, or http://www.cymdeithasgwenynwyrcymru.co.uk/?page_id=206 has some info from Wally Shaw that I have found really useful.
I do like the Snelgrove board, really useful and versatile bit of kit. Worth checking out; also search out comments on the forum (Jon's I think) about setting up the colony that will raise your Q-cells.

[greig1983]

Using the OTS method do you think the bees would still produce a queen if the current queen is still ok?

I'm hoping to do the split but wanting the queen cell to be near enough ready so the bees are Queenless for long and possibly have eggs being laid shortly after hatching.

[Adam]

Bouncing a colony into producing a queencell or two when they are not ready is not necessarily going to produce the best queen. This is why it's often better to wait until they start to produce queencells themselves.

[greig1983]

What would be the best method to do a split?

I would really like to do two splits as I have two spare hives one national and one langstroth. My current hive is national so really would like all 3 full of bees but without buying packaged bees.

Thanks

[Adam]

Once you have queencells in the hive you can make an artificial swarm. This will filter off the queen and the older flyers on the existing site. For the remainder stock you'll have some queencells, lots of brood and the young bees. Usually you would reduce this box down to 1 queencell. However you can take a nuc off (Queencell on it's frame of brood, another frame of brood, one of stores plus some shaken in bees) and that's your nuc. The remainder - with one queencell - should result in a mated queen along with a mated queen in the nuc. You'll then have 3 colonies and should all be viable (large enough) for winter.
This doesn't answer your Langstroth question though. Always better to keep compatible frames.....

[gavin]

Once you have queencells in the hive you can make an artificial swarm. This will filter off the queen and the older flyers on the existing site. For the remainder stock you'll have some queencells, lots of brood and the young bees. Usually you would reduce this box down to 1 queencell. However you can take a nuc off (Queencell on it's frame of brood, another frame of brood, one of stores plus some shaken in bees) and that's your nuc. The remainder - with one queencell - should result in a mated queen along with a mated queen in the nuc. You'll then have 3 colonies and should all be viable (large enough) for winter.
This doesn't answer your Langstroth question though. Always better to keep compatible frames.....

Spot on there.

All the usual tips apply. Bees may fly back to mum so you might like to block splits in for a couple of days. Grass over the entrance may help them reorientate. They'll stay put much better once their queen cell has hatched but that might take over a week and you can't block them in that long. Shaking in extra young bees may help. Don't shake any frame carrying a queen cell you might like to keep. Make sure that you can find your queen, needs to be marked and ideally clipped.

Bear in mind that if they all survive you will have three boxes next year and will need two spare Nationals and one spare Langstroth. Always better to standardise on one frame type. But if you really want to move bees into a Langstroth I think you could put the Langstroth on the old side and move the old queen in. In theory you could put a queen excluder under the floor for several days to make sure they don't abscond, shake in some young bees, and hope that they build new comb. Probably better (and theoretically possible) to tie a Langstroth top bar onto a National frame and move that in, with the old queen, into your Langstroth box.

[Black Comb]

Tying a langstroth top bar to a national frame works fine. I've done it a few times. They build drone brood down each side of the nat. but you can stop them doing this by cable tying a piece of 3 x 1 par at each end of the nat.
Then slowly move the frames to the edge of box as you build up the LS frames.

[madasafish]

I am about (i.e. this spring) to convert two nationals to langs and will use this method.. http://tinyurl.com/hlkuy8c

[Kate Atchley]

I am about (i.e. this spring) to convert two nationals to langs and will use this method.. http://tinyurl.com/hlkuy8c

Good pics in that link madasafish.

I see Thornes now offer a conversion board National/Langstroth. I won't be alone in having made one (years ago) to help create a nuc for a beginner using Langstroths.

[greig1983]

I am about (i.e. this spring) to convert two nationals to langs and will use this method.. http://tinyurl.com/hlkuy8c

I was going to try and ty-rap it onto the frame. Smashing

When is roughly the best time to try this? Early April do you think?

[Jon]

I was going to try and ty-rap it onto the frame. Smashing

When is roughly the best time to try this? Early April do you think?

whenever the colony is strong enough.