Need some advice from those more experienced. I am planning on using the hopkins or case method to raise a few queens. I am also going to use the cloake board. In doing this I need to get my queen to lay on a particular frame in the bottom box where she is currently confined. I have two shallow frames in this box with unwired comb from a failed attempt at comb honey from a previous year. If I cannot get her to lay in these frames (they have been present in the center of the brood nest for 2d so far) can I take her out and put her into a nuc with just these frames and a feeder and some nurse bees. I am concerned that the parent hive will start queen cells and this will induce a swarm. When I place her back in the parent hive in the bottom box will she simply destroy these started cells. Sorry for the novella but any help would be appreciated.
I made a #5 hardware cloth confinement cage:
http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearing.htm#hopkinsmethod (http://www.bushfarms.com/beesqueenrearing.htm#hopkinsmethod)
http://www.bushfarms.com/images/QueenConfinement5.jpg (http://www.bushfarms.com/images/QueenConfinement5.jpg)
so she has no where else to lay... and I know how old the eggs are.
Micheal, thanks for the advice. I have reviewed your website in the past and found it quite useful, thank you for all your hard work in sharing your knowledge. I originally attempted just what you suggested, however, I cannot find number five hardware cloth at any hardware store in kc. Where do you get it?
I bought mine from Brushy Mt. by the foot. I haven't seen a recent catalog but last I looked Brushy Mt. and Betterbee had it by the foot. You can also go to an Ace Hardware store and order it by the roll I think. I think you can even order it from ACE online. But I'd have to check that. I try to always have some #8, #7, #5 and #4 on hand. The #8 is good when you just want to make sure bees don't get through. The #7 is good when you want pollen to be able to get through and no bees (but a bent wire has been known to let the occasional bee through) the #5 is good when you want the bees to be able to get through but not the queen and the #4 is good for mouse guards.
It seems that only the even numbers are still readily available. If you find a source of #5 or #7 you better get it while you can if you need it. Some of the suppliers are still listing it, but in my experience of looking for #7 (for beetle traps) it might not actually be available. My local hardware store was very helpful, but couldn't get it. I finally found an old stock roll of what I was looking for - actually someone on here pointed it out to me.
The good news is that you can get cages made for exactly what you are doing from the bee suppliers.
Actually I don't know of any cages from the suppliers that will act as a queen excluder while allowing the bees through. #5 is used worldwide for screening coffee beans so I can't imagine that something required for the second largest commodity (in dollars) in the world... in Africa it is called "coffee cloth" or "coffee wire". But I have not looked for it recently. #5 and #7 are necessary for pollen traps. I know Lloyd Spears has said that finding quality hardware cloth has been a challange in recent years but I have not heard it is not available... maybe I should try to stock up... I have plenty of #8 but #7 and #5 I only have a little of. One could build a cage with a piece of the plastic queen excluder material for the face and a frame of wood and some #8 hardware cloth for the edges to go into the wax...
If you find a good source of it please post it as it's own thread! Maybe you won't have any problem - I hope not. Apparently just because something is commonly available in Brazil doesn't mean it is easy to find in Tennessee.