Successful Introduction and Performance 
of Queen Bees in a Commercial Apiary

This Short Report contains key points from the final report Introduction and Early Performance of Queen Bees (RIRDC Publication No 03/049, 45pp: $16) by John Rhodes (NSW Agriculture, Tamworth), and Doug Somerville (NSW Agriculture, Goulburn).  For further information on this project refer to the full final report available from RIRDC or contact the principal researcher.
A productive, long-lived queen bee is the essence of a productive colony of honey bees. If a queen bee experiences a low egg laying capacity or fails altogether then the productivity of the colony is seriously impacted. In a commercial beekeeping operation this translates to a loss of honey production or one less colony suitable for a pollination service fee. No other factor is probably more critical in the management of bee hives for income generation than the presence of a productive long lived queen bee.

The aim of the research was to determine the impact on survivability and performance of queen bees raised in nucleus colonies and caught at 7 day intervals from 7 to 35. (Normal commercial practice is for queens to be caged at 14 to 21 days.) The caught queens were then mailed by Australia Post and introduced into commercial honey producing colonies within two distinctly different regions of NSW. Various measurements were taken including temperature and humidity of queens during transport, disease status, sperm count, pheromone levels, climatic factors and general nutritional and floral conditions.
The research was repeated over a two year period. All queens were grafted on the same day and raised in strongly populated well nourished cell raising colonies with what is conventionally believed to be more than enough drone mother hives available to supply adequate drones for each virgin queen bee.
The results of the research project are significant enough for queen bee producers to consider increasing the catch age of queen bees by an extra one to two weeks.
The following graph illustrates this point:

Introduction Success of Queen Bees After 2 Weeks

Age of the queen when removed from the mating nucleusClearly the longer a queen spends in her original mating colony prior to being caged the more likely she will survive the first 14 days in her new colony into which she has been introduced. Many beekeepers may observe that the newly introduced queen was not successfully introduced into a hive but few may be able to detect the presence of an introduced queen after 15 weeks.
 

Introduction Success of Queen Bees After 15 Weeks

Other aspects measured did not have a measurable impact on the introduction success of queen bees into the commercial hives. These measurements include temperature and humidity during the transport of the queens in cages, climatic conditions at time of introduction, and the nutritional status of the colonies within which the queens were introduced.

All the beekeepers who were involved in this research are recognised as highly professional and successful commercial operators practicing high level management standards.

The study identified further areas for research consideration including the role of pheromones in introduction success, aspects impacting on drone fertility and sperm counts, whether queens are able to make mating flights once they have begun to lay and further studies are required to determine whether queen banks may facilitate the maturing of queens prior to shipping to customers.

The differences between 1999 and 2000 cannot be explained by the researches although it is interesting to note that an earlier project DAN164A in 1997-98 found that losses of queens 15 weeks after introduction from spring reared queens were higher (30%) compared to autumn reared queens (12%).
Clearly there is more research to be done to clarify the issues that impact on queen bee introduction success and performance.

Researchers’ details
John Rhodes
NSW Department of Agriculture
RMB 944, Calala Lane
Tamworth, NSW, 2340
Phone: 02 6763 1206
Fax: 02 6763 1222
Email: john.rhodes@agric.nsw.gov.au		 Doug Somerville
NSW Department of Agriculture
PO Box 389
Goulburn, NSW, 2580
Phone: 02 4828 6600
Fax: 02 4822 3261
Email: doug.somerville@agric.nsw.gov.au


Other RIRDC related reports: