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I Watched a Beekeeper Buy a $92 Queen — Then I Learned to Raise My Own — Transcript

by Mae Holloway · 3,246 words · 540 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:00Several years ago, I was at James
0:01Whitmore's place helping him with a
0:04summer inspection, and I watched him do
0:06something that made me stop and think in
0:09a way I had not thought before.
0:12James is a beekeeper I've known for
0:14about 15 years. He runs 25 hives about 8
0:18miles from me, and we help each other
0:21with larger projects a few times a year.
0:24That morning, he had a small package
0:26that had arrived by overnight mail.
0:29Inside was a queen in a small wooden
0:32cage. He had ordered her from a
0:34well-known breeder in the southern
0:36United States, marked, mated, ready to
0:40be introduced into one of his weaker
0:42colonies.
0:44He unwrapped the packaging carefully. He
0:47showed me the queen. She was a
0:49good-looking queen, well-formed, active
0:52in the cage. James had paid $92 for that
0:57queen plus shipping.
0:59He was in the process of introducing her
1:01to a colony that had lost its own queen
1:04a couple of weeks earlier.
1:06There is nothing unusual about what
1:09James was doing. Most beekeepers I know
1:12order queens when they need them. It is
1:14the standard approach. The queen
1:16breeders do genuinely good work, and the
1:19queens they produce are generally
1:21reliable. James was operating within the
1:24completely normal beekeeping economy of
1:27purchasing genetic material when your
1:28colonies need it. But something happened
1:30in my mind while I was watching him open
1:32that cage. I looked at the queen, then I
1:35looked at the apiary around us. James
1:38had a dozen strong colonies within 20 ft
1:40of where we were standing. Every one of
1:42those colonies contained queens who were
1:44laying eggs at that very moment. Any of
1:47those eggs, given the right conditions
1:49inside a colony, could develop into a
1:51new queen. The genetic material James
1:53had just paid $92 for was being produced
1:56continuously in his own apiary by his
1:59own bees. He was buying something he
2:02could have grown. I did not say anything
2:04to James that morning because I
2:05understood why he had ordered a queen.
2:07Was faster. It was more reliable. He
2:11knew exactly when the queen would be
2:12ready. He did not have to make a colony
2:15broodless for weeks or manage the timing
2:18of virgin queen mating flights.
2:21Buying a queen is a straightforward
2:23transaction that produces a predictable
2:26outcome.
2:27Raising a queen is a process that
2:29requires attention and time and involves
2:33some uncertainty.
2:35James was making a rational choice.
2:38But that morning I started thinking
2:39about raising queens myself more
2:41seriously than I had before.
2:43And today I want to talk with you about
2:45what I have learned in the years since.
2:48Not as a tutorial, not as instructions.
2:51As a broader consideration of what
2:54raising your own queen means for a
2:56beekeeper who has never done it and is
2:58wondering whether it is worth learning.
3:01Let me start with what actually happens
3:03biologically when a honeybee colony
3:06raises a new queen. Because
3:08understanding this makes everything else
3:10about queen rearing make more sense.
3:13Honeybee colonies raise new queens under
3:15three different biological conditions
3:18and each condition produces a slightly
3:20different type of queen. The first
3:22condition is swarming. A strong colony
3:24that has reached maximum population
3:26density prepares to reproduce by
3:29swarming. The workers construct queen
3:31cells along the bottom edges of brood
3:33frames. They feed the developing larvae
3:36in those cells royal jelly continuously.
3:39When the cells are capped, the existing
3:40queen leaves with about 60% of the
3:42workforce as a swarm. The virgin queens
3:45emerging from the cells fight each other
3:48and the survivor becomes the new queen
3:50of the original colony. This is the
3:52natural reproductive event that shaped
3:54how honeybees evolved. The second
3:56condition is supersedure. A colony
3:59recognizes that its current queen is
4:01declining, reduced pheromone output,
4:05deteriorating brood pattern, other
4:07signals of aging, and decides to replace
4:11her without swarming.
4:13The workers construct queen cells on the
4:15face of the brood combs rather than at
4:18the edges. The existing queen continues
4:21laying while the new queen develops.
4:24When the new queen emerges, she
4:26typically kills or displaces the old
4:29queen and takes over the colony.
4:32This is a peaceful succession that the
4:34colony manages entirely on its own
4:36timing.
4:38The third condition is emergency queen
4:40replacement. A colony that has suddenly
4:43lost its queen through death, accident,
4:46or beekeeper intervention must raise a
4:49replacement quickly, or the colony will
4:51not survive.
4:53The workers select young larvae in
4:55normal worker cells and convert those
4:58cells into queen cells by rebuilding the
5:00wax around them and feeding the larvae
5:03royal jelly.
5:05The resulting queens develop faster than
5:07swarm or supersedure queens because the
5:10workers are compensating for lost time.
5:14According to research from Dr. Thomas
5:16Seeley at Cornell University, the
5:18biological quality of queens produced
5:21under each of these conditions differs
5:23slightly.
5:25Swarm queens and supersedure queens tend
5:28to have larger body size and higher
5:30reproductive capacity than emergency
5:33queens because the workers had more time
5:36and better conditions to raise them.
5:39Emergency queens are still functional,
5:41but they are more variable in quality.
5:44This biological variation is what queen
5:47rearing beekeepers try to control.
5:50When you deliberately raise queens, you
5:53can create the conditions that produce
5:54the highest quality queens starting with
5:57young larvae from selected mothers,
6:00ensuring adequate nurse bee populations
6:02for continuous feeding, maintaining
6:05optimal timing throughout development.
6:08You are not doing something the bees
6:09cannot do themselves. You are optimizing
6:12the conditions to reliably produce the
6:15best possible outcome.
6:17Now the practical question. July is
6:20actually one of the better months to
6:22raise queens in most of North America.
6:24The colonies are at peak population
6:27strength. Drone populations in the local
6:30apiary community are still robust enough
6:33for adequate queen mating. Temperatures
6:35allow for reliable brood development.
6:38Forage varies by region, but is often
6:40still adequate to support the
6:42nutritional demands of queen production.
6:44The general approach involves several
6:46coordinated elements. First, you need a
6:48source colony with genetics you want to
6:50propagate. This is typically your best
6:52performing colony, the one with the
6:54traits you want more of in your apiary.
6:57Second, you need a way to isolate young
7:00larvae from that source colony and
7:02present them to a queenless population
7:04that will raise them as queens. This can
7:06be done through several methods ranging
7:08from the cloak board and Nicot systems
7:11used by commercial breeders to simpler
7:13splits and walk-away splits that
7:15individual beekeepers use. Third, you
7:19need timing coordination.
7:21The queen cell development takes
7:23approximately 12 days from when the
7:26larva is old enough to be transferred to
7:29when the cell is ready to hatch. During
7:31those 12 days, you need to have your
7:34receiving colonies ready and your
7:35infrastructure prepared for the emerging
7:38virgin queens.
7:40The simplest approach for beekeepers new
7:42to queen rearing is the walk-away split.
7:44You take frames of eggs, young larva,
7:47brood in various stages, and adhering
7:50bees from a strong source colony. You
7:53place these frames in a new hive body in
7:56a new location. The new hive is
7:58queenless. The workers recognize this
8:00within hours and select young larva in
8:03worker cells to convert to queen cells.
8:06The colony raises multiple queen cells
8:09over the following days. The strongest
8:11virgin queen emerges and eventually
8:13mates and begins laying. The walk-away
8:16split produces emergency queens, which
8:18are lower average quality than
8:20deliberate raised queens, but for a
8:22beekeeper with two to 10 hives, this
8:25method is often adequate.
8:28You can produce your own replacement
8:30queens without any specialized equipment
8:32using the same colonies you are already
8:35managing.
8:36Timing in July matters.
8:39The queen needs approximately 3 weeks
8:41from the day you make the split to
8:43establish and begin laying. 12 days of
8:46cell development plus mating flights
8:49plus initial laying period.
8:52In most of North America, starting a
8:54split in early July gives you a laying
8:57queen by early August, which is time
8:59enough for her to produce meaningful egg
9:01laying before fall shuts down brood
9:04production.
9:05Starting much later than mid-July begins
9:08to compress the window uncomfortably.
9:11Let me talk about money because the
9:13economic argument for raising your own
9:15queens is significant and it is often
9:17the argument that gets beekeepers to
9:20seriously consider learning the skill.
9:23A commercial queen from a reputable
9:25breeder currently costs between 40 and
9:28$100 depending on the source, the
9:31genetics, and whether the queen is mated
9:34or virgin.
9:36Reliable breeders producing quality
9:38mated queens are typically in the $50 to
9:41$80 range. Add shipping and you are
9:44looking at $70 to $100 per queen
9:48delivered.
9:49For a beekeeper with three hives who
9:52needs to replace one queen every year or
9:54two, the annual cost is manageable.
9:57For a beekeeper with 10 hives who needs
10:00to replace three or four queens most
10:02years, the cost accumulates
10:04significantly.
10:05$200 to $400 per year in queens
10:08purchased. Over a decade of beekeeping,
10:11that is $2,000 to $4,000 in queen
10:14purchases. Raising your own queens costs
10:17essentially nothing beyond the value of
10:19your time. The bees do the actual work.
10:23You provide the conditions and the
10:25timing coordination. There are minor
10:27equipment purchases if you want
10:29specialized queen rearing tools, but for
10:32basic walk-away splits, you use the
10:34equipment you already have. The economic
10:37argument extends beyond direct queen
10:39purchases.
10:40Beekeepers who can raise their own
10:42queens are not vulnerable to breeder
10:44shortages or shipping problems.
10:47Every year there are periods when
10:48quality breeders are sold out or when
10:51shipping delays render purchased queens
10:53unreliable.
10:55A beekeeper who can produce queens from
10:57their own colonies does not depend on
10:59external supply chains for critical
11:01colony operations.
11:03There is also the question of what you
11:05do with a colony that loses its queen
11:07unexpectedly.
11:09If you can raise queens, you provide a
11:10replacement from your own genetics
11:12within weeks.
11:14If you cannot raise queens, you either
11:16wait for delivery from a breeder, which
11:18may not be available at the specific
11:20time you need her, or you combine the
11:23queenless colony with another to
11:25preserve the workforce. Being able to
11:28raise queens gives you management
11:30options that are not available
11:32otherwise. Over 20 years of beekeeping,
11:35the cumulative economic benefit of being
11:37able to produce your own queens is
11:39substantial. This is not the whole
11:41reason to learn the skill, but it is a
11:43real reason, and it is worth naming
11:46directly.
11:47I want to talk about something that took
11:49me years to fully articulate, but that I
11:52now believe is the deepest reason to
11:55learn queen rearing. When your queens
11:57come from your own colonies, your
11:59relationship with your apiary changes in
12:01a way that is hard to describe until you
12:03experience it. Every queen in a
12:06commercially purchased operation is
12:08genetically disconnected from the
12:09beekeeper's own observations and
12:11decisions. The breeder selected for
12:14whatever traits they were selecting for.
12:16Those traits may or may not be optimal
12:18for your specific climate, your specific
12:21forage, your specific management style.
12:24The queens arrive with genetics that
12:25were shaped by someone else's priorities
12:28in a location that may be nothing like
12:30yours. When you raise your own queens,
12:32the situation reverses. Your queens are
12:34descended from your own best performing
12:36colonies, colonies that thrived in your
12:39specific conditions, colonies whose
12:41traits you observed and valued enough to
12:43select them as the mothers of the next
12:45generation. Over multiple years of
12:48raising queens from your own selected
12:51colonies, you gradually develop bees
12:54that are adapted to your specific place.
12:57Not better in the abstract than
12:59commercial genetics, better for your
13:01apiary in particular.
13:04Research on local adaptation in
13:06honeybees has documented that queens
13:08raised from local surviving stock show
13:11measurable performance advantages over
13:14imported commercial genetics in the
13:16local environment. The advantage comes
13:19from generations of selection pressure
13:21specific to the local conditions.
13:23Diseases that are locally prevalent are
13:26more effectively managed by locally
13:28adapted immune responses.
13:30Foraging patterns match locally
13:32available plants and timing.
13:34Winter survival strategies match local
13:37weather patterns.
13:38All of this develops through the
13:40selection process that happens when you
13:42raise queens from colonies that
13:44succeeded in your area.
13:46Beyond the performance benefits, there
13:48is a shift in how you experience your
13:50apiary.
13:51Every colony in an apiary based on
13:54locally raised queens carries genetic
13:57contributions from previous successful
13:59colonies in the same apiary.
14:02Your best colony from 5 years ago has
14:05descendants in every hive you manage
14:07today.
14:09The apiary becomes an ongoing lineage
14:11rather than a collection of imports.
14:14This is closer to how honey bees
14:15actually exist in natural populations,
14:18where local adaptation shapes regional
14:21bee populations over long periods.
14:24Your apiary starts to function as a
14:26small-scale version of that natural
14:29process.
14:30This philosophical shift matters because
14:32beekeeping is not just economic
14:35activity. It is relational activity. The
14:38bees you manage are in relationship with
14:40you and with the specific place where
14:42they live.
14:44Raising your own queens strengthens both
14:46sides of that relationship in ways that
14:49purchased queens cannot match.
14:51Let me tell you about the first queen I
14:54ever raised because the experience
14:56taught me things that no amount of
14:58reading about queen rearing had
15:00communicated.
15:01It was July of my seventh year of
15:03beekeeping. I had been thinking about
15:06queen rearing seriously since watching
15:08James open that $92 cage.
15:11I had read about the walk-away split
15:13method. I had watched other beekeepers
15:15describe their approaches. I felt as
15:18ready as I was going to feel without
15:19actually trying it. My best colony that
15:22year was hive number four. Strong
15:24population, excellent brood pattern,
15:27gentle temperament, good honey
15:29production. I chose her as my source
15:31colony for that first attempt. I set up
15:34an empty hive body on a stand about 30
15:36ft from hive four. I prepared the
15:39equipment the night before so I could
15:40work efficiently the next morning.
15:42On a warm July morning, I opened hive
15:45four and I worked through the frames
15:47looking for eggs and very young larva.
15:49I selected two frames that had the
15:51highest concentration of eggs and young
15:54larvae along with adhering bees.
15:58I moved those frames to the new hive
16:00body.
16:01I added a frame of capped brood so the
16:04young colony would have emerging workers
16:07soon.
16:08I added a frame of pollen and honey for
16:11immediate resources. I closed the new
16:15hive. I closed hive four.
16:18I made a note in my journal that the
16:21split had happened and then I waited.
16:25This is the hardest part of queen
16:27rearing for a beginner, the waiting. You
16:30cannot open the new colony frequently to
16:32check on progress because you disturb
16:35the queen cell development. You have to
16:37trust that the biological processes are
16:40happening the way they are supposed to
16:41happen.
16:43You have to leave the colony alone for
16:44weeks and hope. I opened the new colony
16:47for the first inspection at day 14. When
16:50I lifted the top and looked down onto
16:52the top bars, I could see the difference
16:54immediately. There were fewer bees than
16:57a normal colony. The workforce had
16:59contracted because the emerging workers
17:01were replacing the losses at a slower
17:04rate than the original population was
17:07dying off. This is normal for a
17:09queenless colony raising its own
17:12replacement. I worked down through the
17:14frames looking for queen cells. I found
17:17four capped cells on the face of the
17:19second brood frame. All four looked well
17:22developed. I did not open any of them. I
17:25did not need to. The colony was doing
17:27what I had asked it to do. I closed the
17:30hive and waited another week. On day 21,
17:33I opened the hive again. The colony was
17:36quieter than during my previous
17:37inspection. The workforce was still
17:39small, but the character of the sound
17:42had changed. Calmer, more organized. I
17:45looked through the brood frames and I
17:47found a virgin queen on the third frame.
17:50She was smaller than a laying queen and
17:51she moved differently. Quicker, more
17:54urgent. I did not disturb her. I closed
17:57the hive. I waited two more weeks for
17:59her to complete her mating flights and
18:01begin laying. On day 35, I opened the
18:04hive and found her again. This time she
18:07was moving with the deliberate pace of a
18:09laying queen.
18:11And on the frame she was walking across,
18:13I could see eggs in cells. Small, white
18:17eggs standing upright in the bottom of
18:19empty worker cells.
18:21My first queen.
18:23Raised by my own colony from my own
18:25genetics. Zero cost beyond my time and
18:28attention.
18:30I sat next to that hive for a long time
18:32before I closed it back up.
18:34I had done something I had been
18:36hesitating to try for years and I had
18:38discovered that it worked.
18:40The bees knew how to do this. They had
18:42been doing it for millions of years.
18:45All I had to do was set up the
18:47conditions and trust them to manage the
18:49actual work.
18:50That first queen went on to produce a
18:52strong colony that survived winter and
18:55produced a good honey crop the following
18:57year.
18:58She was superseded naturally by her
19:00daughter in her third year.
19:02That daughter is one of my current
19:04queens.
19:05The lineage from that first attempt
19:07continues in my apiary today.
19:09I I close with honesty about what
19:11raising queens has taught me and what I
19:14still do not understand.
19:1612 years after that first attempt, I am
19:18not a commercial queen breeder. I do not
19:21produce large numbers of queens each
19:23year. I raise the queens I need for my
19:25own operation and occasionally share
19:28extras with Dorothy or with beekeepers
19:30in my local club.
19:32My approach remains relatively simple.
19:35Walk-away splits from my best colonies.
19:37Timing coordinated with the July window
19:40that works in my climate. Selection
19:42based on my direct observation of colony
19:45performance across multiple seasons.
19:48What I still do not fully understand is
19:50how much of my colony health is due to
19:52the queen rearing versus how much would
19:55have been similar if I had continued
19:57buying queens. The comparison is
19:59impossible for me to make rigorously
20:01because I cannot run a controlled
20:03experiment on my own apiary.
20:05What I can say is that my colonies since
20:07I started raising my own queens have
20:10performed at least as well as they did
20:12before and my confidence in managing
20:15queen problems has grown significantly.
20:17Whether the improvements are
20:19attributable to the queens themselves or
20:21to the increased skill that came with
20:23learning this practice, I cannot fully
20:25separate. But I know the practice itself
20:28has changed how I relate to my apiary in
20:31ways that I value.
20:33I want to invite you to consider whether
20:35raising queens is something you want to
20:36learn. Not because you have to. Not
20:39because purchased queens are somehow
20:41wrong. Because the practice opens up
20:44dimensions of beekeeping that are not
20:45accessible when your queens come from
20:47elsewhere. Start with a walk-away split
20:50from your best colony in a July when you
20:52have time and attention available. Give
20:54yourself permission for the first
20:56attempt to be a learning experience
20:57rather than a success.
20:59Trust the bees to do what they know how
21:01to do. See what you discover. The worst
21:04outcome is that you learn something
21:06about queen biology that you did not
21:07know before. The best outcome is that
21:11you begin a lineage in your apiary that
21:14will continue to teach you for the rest
21:16of your beekeeping life.

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