How to plant a swarm mother liquor to bees

Often, beekeepers are faced with a problem when it is necessary to transplant a fetal queen into a queenless family in order to save her. This task is difficult, a positive result is not guaranteed, because it depends on objective and subjective factors – the methods of the procedure, the state of the uterus, bee colony, weather conditions.

External factors for replanting queens

To successfully transplant a queen bee, a number of external conditions are necessary:

• warm, sunny, windless weather;
• the presence of a good bribe, in which the bees are calm and busy;
• spring or summer is the most favorable season for receiving a queen bee;
• evening time.

The condition of the bee colony before replanting the uterus

The result of replanting a queen bee in a queenless colony largely depends on the state of the latter. Replacement is easier if the queen is lost (or removed) only 2 to 3 hours ago. During this time, the aggressiveness and anxiety in the hive is somewhat reduced. A longer “orphan” state is a negative factor, since in the presence of open brood, fistulous queen cells will be laid. The beekeeper will have to remove them, and only after 2 hours after that try to replant the uterus. In this case, the family is quite aggressive and may not accept it.

If a queenless bee colony is such for a long time and a person does not interfere, then tinders appear. Further efforts to plant the young queen are unsuccessful.

In the presence of open brood, a young fetal uterus takes root better. The presence of eggs and larvae is considered a plus.

In the absence of brood, it is worth replanting infertile queens. The behavior of the beekeeper during the procedure should be calm. You can not delay the inspection of the family, knock on the hive, irritating insects and causing vicious behavior. The beekeepers noticed that young bees are more relaxed and friendly to the new queen than older individuals.

The state of the queen bee at the time of transplantation

The queen is well received, it is easy to plant her when she is fertile, transplanted from a bee colony where she has just laid her eggs. The fetal uterus, which had a break in oviposition, becomes puny in appearance, overly mobile. Her appearance is more like an infertile individual. For this reason, it is difficult to accept. The ideal option is to plant a self-grown fetal uterus and transfer it directly from the combs.

Infertile is taken worse than fetal. To facilitate the process, such a queen should be used immediately after leaving the mother liquor, when she moves smoothly and slowly.

If the queen bee has sat in the cell for several days, then it can only be planted in the nucleus and with great care.

It is very important not to bring foreign odors along with the cell. From the hands of the beekeeper should not smell of cologne, onions, tobacco. Otherwise, the attitude towards the uterus will be hostile and it can be destroyed. It is worth applying honey to the cell from the nest where you want to plant the queen.

When can you transplant bees

The older the queen bee, the more drone eggs she lays. The propensity of the family to swarm increases. Honey production is falling. It makes no sense to keep the uterus for more than two years, it is worth planting a young one. It is necessary to keep a strict record and registration of replacement queens.

Unscheduled replacement occurs for several reasons:

• in case of low family productivity;
• when wintering is poorly tolerated (a large amount of death, diarrhea);
• physical injury;
• to change the gene pool (insects have become too aggressive);
• to replace the breed;
• in case of illness in the hive.

After the spring inspection, records should be made about the strength of the colonies, the condition and origin of the queen. You can plant queen bees throughout the season as the nuclei appear. Constant replacement leads to their high productivity, the appearance of brood until late autumn, which contributes to the successful wintering.

To increase the bribe in June or July, you can plant a young uterus. She cannot lay eggs yet, there is no open brood, honey is being collected. The removed queen is in the nucleus used for the autumn or spring strengthening of bee colonies.

Replanting methods

When the queen ages, dies, is injured or cannot lay offspring, the bees raise their own queen, feeding the larva not with honey, but with milk. The young individual or the bees themselves destroy the old queen and a natural “silent replacement” occurs.

There is a simplified artificial way to replace the queen. It is used in large apiaries, where there is not enough time for labor-intensive methods. Its essence is to replant the uterus in bee colonies without looking for the old one. To do this, during the bribe, the printed mother liquor must be placed in the nest where replacement is required. It is attached between the frame bars in the upper case or in the store. The next day they examine the mother liquor: not touched – the queen is accepted. If the bees gnawed it, put the second one. When the destruction is repeated, it becomes clear that the old queen bee has been selected. If a young one is accepted, then after a while it will appear from the mother liquor and destroy the old one.

Among the main methods of replanting:

• orphaned method;
• container way;
• with a cap;
• via drain or nucleus.

All methods can be divided into two groups:

• straight;
• indirect.

Indirect

This method consists in isolating the queen from the bees with the help of mechanical devices at the time of her replanting. Special devices can be in the form of caps and cages, insulating containers, etc.

With the help of the uterine cell of Titov

Many beekeepers try to transplant the uterus in this way. First you need to remove the old one. Place the young fetal in the cell, attaching it in the center of the nest next to the open brood, directly to the combs. Honey should be in the aft compartment of the cell. Release the queen after 3 days, after removing all fistulous queen cells from the nest. If insects react aggressively to the “captive”, then it must again be placed in a cage for 2 days, and the exit should be sealed with honeycomb. Release again after 3 days. The probability of planting in this way is about 85%, but the disadvantage is the possibility of injuring the uterus, which is in unnatural conditions.

How to plant with a mesh cap

At the end of the day, the queen should be removed from the bee colony. After 4 hours, cover the new queen on the combs with a cap, place in the center of the nest. After a few days, she will start laying eggs. It is necessary to remove all fistulous queen cells and the cap, observing the behavior of the bees. With their aggression, it is worth extending the “imprisonment” of the queen for another 2 days.

Straight

With this risky method, the uterus is placed in the hive without mechanical means of protecting it. This method is relevant in a number of cases:

• when replacing the old one with a new one that does not have a break in oviposition;
• with a large number of fetal uterus;
• when the bee colony is growing rapidly.

Among the direct methods, the most famous are:

• with the help of a fly – the uterus, smeared with gruel from drones, is launched into the hive;
• replacement – find a queen in the nest, destroy her and place a new one in her place, monitoring her condition for some time;
• shaking off – remove the old queen bee, and add a new one to the bees launched into the hive through the gangway (shake off a couple of frames from the hive);
• with nuclei – the old one with several frames is removed, and the nucleus is placed in the hive, blocking it with an insert board;
• aromatic plant – the old queen is destroyed, and the bees and the new one are treated with sweet mint syrup;
• with ethyl ether (7 drops) – it is applied to the top bar of the frames, covered with a canvas, the queen bee is launched into the center of the nest.

How to plant a queen in a hive

For a successful replacement, a number of factors must be taken into account:

• the optimal time for the change of the queen is from April to June;
• the best place is small growing families;
• for the adoption of the queen, it is necessary to remove barren queens, open brood, eggs and larvae;
• it is difficult to replant the uterus after the main honey collection (July-August) due to the aggressiveness of insects;
• fixing a queenless family in August-October is easier, as aggressiveness subsides;
• it is difficult to plant the queen during a period of possible theft;
• bees that are in the pre-swarming state will not accept a new queen, because they choose her themselves during this period.

How to plant a fetal uterus in a family

The sense of smell of insects allows them to smell the enzymes of the queen bee. They distinguish between fetal and infertile by smell and accept the former more easily.

One of the methods of replanting is from a forwarding cell. Tribal bee farms sell fetal queens in plastic containers, consisting of two compartments. The first is for the uterus and her retinue, the second is for the candi. The top of the container is covered with foil. For replanting the fetal uterus into the layers from the forwarding cell, it is necessary:

1. Find and remove the queen bee from the nest.
2. Make several holes in the film with a diameter of 2 mm.
3. Attach the container with the new queen to the nesting frame next to the brood.
4. Close the lid of the hive.
5. After 2 days, inspect the hive, remove fistulous queen cells.
6. Holes closed with wax mean that they do not want to accept the uterus, you should leave the container for a day in its previous form.
7. If the holes are open, then the film is changed to foundation.
8. Place the cage in its original place.
9. The bees will gnaw through the wax and free the captive.
10. After three days, you need to inspect the nest. If there is seeding, then it was possible to transplant – the uterus is accepted.

How to transplant an infertile uterus

When the queen is replaced with an infertile one, the bees react very excitedly. Replanting has a negative effect on productivity. This operation must be carried out on a small layer located in a separate hive or housing:

1. An infertile uterus or mother liquor is placed in the layer. It should be placed between the frames with the brood.
2. After fertilization and the start of sowing, strengthen the layers with printed brood.
3. Form a layer in the second body of the hive, knocking the second plywood bottom to it.
4. Add there 2 frames with bee bread and honey, 2 frames with printed brood, shake young bees from two frames, place an infertile queen and a mother liquor.
5. Spare letok open.
6. After the start of sowing, reinforce the layers with frames with printed brood (3 pcs.).
7. Remove the old uterus.
8. Remove barrier.
9. Replaced queens are placed in cores for the autumn strengthening of the main families.

How to put a queen in a hive if there is no brood

In order to form layers without brood, you must:

1. Place one frame with food and three with freshly built honeycomb into the nest.
2. Close the letok tightly.
3. Shake a few frames with bees into the hive.
4. Do not allow the replanting of a queen bee from the old family.
5. Close the hive.
6. Move the house to another place.
7. Plant an infertile uterus through the notch.

You can form layers without brood in another way:

1. In an empty box, shake off 4 frames of bees.
2. Close the ventilation opening with a mesh.
3. Put the box in the shade.
4. Prepare a house with 4 frames.
5. Plant a queen in a cage with a hole sealed with wax in the center of the nest.
6. Shake the bees out of the box and into the hive.
7. Close the lid and leave alone for a day.
8. Open the notches and remove the cage.

How to plant a queen in a queenless family through a newspaper

Large families do not accept the new queen well. To avoid aggression, you can plant it in layers with the help of Titov’s cell. 3 – 4 days after the uterus is accepted by the layer and begins to sow eggs, you can begin to combine. For this purpose, put a branch with a layer and a young queen on the main body, separating them with a newspaper. The bees will gnaw through the newspaper and there will be a union. In the presence of the old, a fight with the young and strong is inevitable. Most likely, the young one will win.

How to plant a queen in a hive in late autumn

Many beekeepers are afraid to replant the queen bee in September. However, this process has many advantages:

• maximum egg production is reached in April-May;
• no swarming;
• the amount of mother substance is maximum;
• the probability of swarming with an autumn queen is 2%;
• growth of apiary profitability;
• reduction in the incidence of varroatosis;
• autumn queen bees tolerate wintering better;
• increase in apiary productivity by 50%.

The autumn replanting method is as follows:

1. Hang the cage with the queen on a carnation driven into the nest feeder.
2. Open two holes in the cage.
3. The insects pass through the cage for food and release the queen bee.

The whole process takes no more than a day. Intrigued by the syrup, the insects ignore the queen, which begins to smell like bees rubbing against it. As a result, replanting is successful and fast.

Handling bees after replanting

For those engaged in beekeeping, the replanting of fetal queens is an important and painstaking stage in the maintenance of the apiary. This manipulation is carried out at any time, as soon as defects or a lag in the development of the family are revealed. To be able to cull and plant queen bees, it is necessary to form layers from strong, productive colonies in a timely manner. Replacement queens should be used in nucleuses to strengthen colonies in autumn or spring. They are used on average for two seasons. The first is in the main family and the second is in the nucleus. If a break in oviposition is not needed during the bribe, then the fetal uterus is replanted. If such a break is necessary, then the nuclei are not created, and the queen cells appear later, by the beginning of the flow.

Conclusion

For the successful operation of the apiary, it is necessary to know how to properly and timely plant a fetal queen in a queenless family. Knowledge and application of not one, but several methods can give a large amount of honey collection and the health of the apiary. Using knowledge and relying on objective factors, a beekeeper can count on a significant result of work.