Raising Non-Graft Queens (061)

Honey Bee Obscura Podcast · Feb 17, 2022 · 15m

A good rule when raising a few queens is to keep it simple. And not having to graft larvae from one cell to another is as simple as could be. So, how can that be done?

The Hopkins method is one way, where you simply put a frame with eggs and larvae in a queenless colony and let them do their thing. You even have some controls of the genetics that way, depending on where that frame comes from.

Or you can simply do a split, remove the queen from one or both and get out of the way and let them raise a queen in one or both.

Commercial queens are expensive, but it costs to control all the variable…