The Art Of Queen Rearing May 18 and 19, 2000

The art of queen rearing is one of the most pleasurable and rewarding aspects of beekeeping. This class is designed to give the beekeeper an understanding and appreciation of what it takes to rear high quality queens, as a hobby or on a commercial scale. The two day course is offered at the Rothenbuhler Honey Bee Research Laboratory in Columbus, Ohio.

The basic biology and principles of queen rearing will be presented. Beekeepers will be involved in going through the various steps of the process, including using breeder boxes, setting up cell builders, grafting, handling queen cells and establishing mating nucs. Tips on drone rearing and mating queens will also be presented. The class will consist of a combination of classroom and hands on beekeeping. Two basic queen rearing systems will be used, a queen right system and a queen less system.

We will make some of the specialized equipment needed - grafting tools, cell bars and holding frames - of which participants can take home and get started right away in their own apiaries.

Prerequisite:
Knowledge of basic beekeeping is required. Bring your bee veil.

Registration:
Registration is $175, this includes queen rearing supplies. Information on lodging will be included in the registration packet. Deadline for registration is May 1st.