Description
Overwintered Instrumentally Inseminated Breeder Queen
Overwintered Instrumentally inseminated queen bees are available from early May, early booking is advised as due to the selection these queens go through there are very low numbers available that meet the criteria. With a pre-order please note there may be occassion where an order needs to be cancelled should overwintering of the breeder queen not be successful.
Both Buckfast (from Varroa Sensitive and Hygienic Stock) and British Black / Dark Queens available. Both types are selected from our own breeding stock.
Selection Criteria Assessed
We graft from potential breeder queens and assess daughters raised.
– Hygienic Behaviour: 95%+ VSH test on pin prick.
– Low swarming: less than 20% making swarming preparations.
– Consumption of stores: not requiring supplemental fondant in a usual year, following autumn feeding.
– Honey Production – production exceeds 50Kg avg per hive in a usual season.
– Steadyness on the comb – progeny meeting a 4+ out of 5 for steadyness on the comb.
– Temperament – progeny meeting a 4+ out of 5 for temperament.
Availability
These overwintered instrumentally inseminated queens are usually going into their second full season having had their progeny assessed for a full season. Therefore these queens will only be available for release/ delivery from early May.
Instrumental Insemination Methods
We use the schley instrument for the instrumental insemination of queens. Selecting mature drones and inseminating each queen with approximately 8-10 microlitres of semen. Drones are selected to ensure purity of line and these drones are hatched, marked and matured above an excluder to ensure that these drones are from the intended colony for selection.
Queens for the process are hatched in an incubator and inseminated on day 9, receiving a second dose of Co2 on day 10. Following this the queen is introduced into a full sized nucleus colony and allowed to lay, her brood to hatch and laying pattern to be established before being released for sale. Hence the earliest we can produce Instrumentally Inseminated Queens for. Weather depending. All Instrumentally Inseminated Queens are supplied clipped, as they are clipped before introducing into their nucleus colony. The will carry either a coloured disc or multiple colour mark to trace lineage and will not correspond directly with the year colour code.
Postage and Collection
- Postage – Queens are only sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery as this is a guaranteed and insured service. It is too risky to send queens in the normal post by first class.
- Collection -if wanting to collect, please select this option. However please liase with us via e-mail or phone for a suitable collection time. Arrangements need to be made to ensure your queens are available for collection at a given time as we are a working bee farm we need to ensure plans can be made for collection that fit into our beekeeping schedules.
Marking and Clipping Queens
- Marking – Instrumentally Inseminated Queens will be marked with a numbered disc or multiple colours to help trace lineage.
- Clipping -All Instrumentally Inseminated Queens are supplied clipped as standard.
How to Introduce a New Queen Bee
QUEEN INTRODUCTION Guidelines see our Queen Introduction Guidelines Page
Terms and Conditions
- Queens found dead on arrival – a photo should be taken and sent via e-mail to sales@northumberlandhoney.co.uk on the day of arrival. The queen must then be returned to us in the original cage and packaging with the contents intact for examination.
For full terms and conditions for bee purchases please see here
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