Artificial Insemination

[Breeder of queens Koss]

Hi all!
Queens of instrumental insemination are no different from queens of natural mating, except for one detail - the pheromone in queens of artificial insemination begins to be produced 2-3 weeks later.
Therefore, there are some nuances with introducing them into a new hive.
Such queens live 2-3 years without problems. My oldest instrumental insemination queen was 4.5 years old.
Most likely the problem is in some incorrect actions or methods of work by those who perform instrumental insemination.
There is one exception, when queens are placed in a nucleus - this is single drone insemination. Otherwise, all artificial insemination queens are tested in the main colonies. Insemination is not very difficult. It is more difficult to select the right combination of genes and test these queens for the desired characteristics, of which there are more than 10 species. You need to “see” and have a certain amount of intuition.
I've probably already said this, but I'll say it again. At the initial stages of work, do double insemination. 2x2 µl, 3x3 µl. By doing this you will improve your skill and the percentage of surviving queens will be higher. With this dosage of sperm, queens will definitely live for a couple of years. (if you do everything right)
If you have any additional questions, I will try to answer them.
P.S. Alastair, how are the remaining queens doing?

 

[Alastair]

They are all in production hives now but 2 of them were superseded. The others are performing just like naturally mated queens, but I am very pleased with the bees, lovely gentle hives. I introduced them too late in the season to determine how much honey they made as a lot of that was done by the bees from the previous queens.

What is your procedure for introducing them to a hive or nuc after insemination?

 

[Breeder of queens Koss]

They are all in production hives now but 2 of them were superseded. The others are performing just like naturally mated queens, but I am very pleased with the bees, lovely gentle hives. I introduced them too late in the season to determine how much honey they made as a lot of that was done by the bees from the previous queens.

What is your procedure for introducing them to a hive or nuc after insemination?

The easiest way is to make an artificial swarm.
We take an empty box, put an excluder grill on the bottom so that the queen cannot leave the hive. Take 1 frame with honey, 1 frame with empty honeycombs, pour water into it so that the bee does not suffer from thirst.
Next, find a strong colony - a donor. Find the queen there and set it aside so that you don’t accidentally shake her off into a new hive. The next step is to remove the central nesting frames and the bee that is on these frames and shake it off into a new hive. (this is a young flightless bee).
Next, the queen is given to them in a plastic cage for instrumental insemination.
The hive is closed and moved to the side, or taken to another place.
The old bee will return to its old place, we don’t need it.
The queen is in a plastic cage for a day or two. Then it is released, through candy or by releasing it onto the honeycomb from the cage manually.
When you release it manually, you watch how the queen is received; ideally, the bees should stand around her and pull their antennae towards her or feed her.
Then we return the frame with the queen back to the hive, wait 5 minutes and check. If there is no aggressive reaction, then everything is fine, it was accepted.
P.S. You can also stimulate it with sugar syrup so that the bees are more peaceful.
Now I will explain why this is so.
1. The smaller the number of bees, the easier it is to introduce a queen.
2. The absence of any brood does not give the bees a chance to grow queen cells from it and kill the queen.
3. A young bee accepts queens better than an old one.
4. If there is no natural flow of nectar, bees may be more aggressive towards new queens. By artificially stimulating with syrup, you can switch their attention.
We develop this colony by replacing the closed brood, which is already beginning to emerge. And periodically we look to ensure that the new queen is not replaced. (usually this happens when the genetics are too different or the transition from one breed to another) but it’s better to be safe.
I'll write another way tomorrow

 

[Breeder of queens Koss]

Another method can be used in the summer when it is warm.
1 we find and remove the old queen from the hive.
2. We put a net between the boxes so that the bees cannot get into the top box. ( very important!)
3. From the bottom box we take a couple of frames of closed brood, which has already begun to emerge from the combs. And we transfer it to the top box. (no bees!!!!)
4. Add feed frames and also a little water.
5. Open the plastic cage and immediately release the queen onto the frame. (careful so that it doesn't fly away)
6. Close the hive. (it is important that there is no taphole or other cracks in the top box)
7. After 6 days, we break the queen cells in the destroyer and on the 7th day we remove the mesh that separates the boxes.
What is the point of this method.
1.The acceptance rate of queens is very high.
2. You immediately release the queen, the bees that will be born in the top box will form her retinue and serve her. The brood will not freeze, because the heat from the nest will pass through the mesh and warm it.
And the queen, while she is in the top box, can lay eggs.
3. The bees from the bottom box cannot kill this queen, but the colony will have the same smell.

 

[Alastair]

Great post BOQK, sounds about fullproof!

 

[Breeder of queens Koss]

Great post BOQK, sounds about fullproof!

how do you usually introduce your queens?

 

[Alastair]

Mostly with a cage and candy but have used just about every method that exists. Haven't tried your FB method of Co2'ing the nuc and dropping her in but will give that a try at some point.

 

[Alastair]

@Breeder of queens Koss a question. The season is about over here but my best drone producing hive still had drones so I did a graft and inseminated some queens yesterday. But there were not enough drones to get the 8 microliters I normally give each queen so they all got 4 microliters, which I have never done before. I will not do a second insemination all drones pretty much gone now, the queens are now in mini nucs.​

So because you have experience with these small doses, do you think these queens will be able to sustain a production hive?

 

[Breeder of queens Koss]

Hello Alastair.
The answer to your question will be ambiguous.
1. The issue is with the age of the drone. Only during a certain period of time can a drone be fully fertile. If these are the last drones, it is possible that they were already "old".
If a drone flies, this does not mean that it is “Full-Fledged”.
2. The question is, in what conditions was the queen after insemination, how well was the spermatheca filled?
If all conditions are met, then with such a dose of semen the queen can work fully for one year for sure. This is enough to test her, and if this is valuable material, you can later place this queen in a more compact hive.

 

[Alastair]

Thanks, that's what I was hoping for .