Buck man, could you tell us the details of your modified 2 queen system?
Quote from: Kaisa on January 31, 2012, 06:38:37 PM
Buck man, could you tell us the details of your modified 2 queen system?
Sure Kaisa I will try to explain the best I can.
First locate the queen and make sure she is in the bottom box. Assuming you run a double deep hive. Then put a shallow super on the bottom box. ( you do this because most of the field bees will fly back to the bottom box and they can get
crowded and need room once you put the division board on it.)
Now you put the queen division board on top of the shallow super.( a division board consists of a 5/8" piece of plywood with a 4" circular hole in the middle with 1/8" hardware cloth stapled on both sides. I then staple and glue a 3/8" thick by 1" wide rim around the plywood leaving an entrance on one end. Plywood should be 16 1/4" by 20")
Confused yet? :-D
Now put the other deep box on top of the division board and put the new queen in. Make sure both to and bottom boxes have plenty of feed and at least four frames of brood...more is better.install new queen in top box. In a week make sure the top box has the queen out and laying. When it needs a super add it to give it room. If there is a honey flow on check the bottom box also and add another super if necessary. When the honey flow is going strong pull the division board but only when the new queen is good and established and they are putting honey in the super. Towards the end of the flow , or when you are tired of putting supers on top and bottomyou should put both brood chambers back together and stack the supers back in top. Yep its alot of work and manipulation, but I can tell you the honey yards we do it to consistently out produce our others...by alot. We are going to do it to all of them this year.
Just a side note, aside from checking the queens don't mess with them much, let them work out who survives when you combine them back together. I have found we have around 90% of the new queens survive, and for those that don't we figure the old queen was better than the new one. Hopefully I haven't totally confused you and good luck.
Thanks for the description!
Kaisa
I'm confused!
buck man ........
Thanks for the description!
But I'm confused!
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
I'M not confused and thats a first! That is a lot of work
I think I get it, but I could be confused :-D
Quote from: Jim 134 on February 01, 2012, 10:27:17 PM
buck man ........
Thanks for the description!
But I'm confused!
BEE HAPPY Jim 134 :)
buck man....
Is this the one :? :?
http://www.beebehavior.com/modified_two_queen_system.php (http://www.beebehavior.com/modified_two_queen_system.php)
HAPPY BEE Jim 134 :)
Here is some information on a two queen system: http://www.bjornapiaries.com/uniquebeekeeping.html (http://www.bjornapiaries.com/uniquebeekeeping.html)
Quote from: Vance G on February 01, 2012, 10:49:19 PM
I'M not confused and thats a first! That is a lot of work
I thought he explained it really well. Basically you have a two deep hive. Split the two deeps with a double screen board and put a super on top of the bottom box, making sure the queen is in the bottom. After both colonies are built up and the flow is going good remove the double screen board and let the colonies decide which queen lives.
top
deep box
double screen board
super
deep box with queen
bottom board
My interpretation maybe wrong but thats how I read it.
Got a couple of questions for you buck man.
Do you face both entrances in the same direction?
Is it possible to start the top hive with a queen cell instead of a laying queen?
Thanks