Plain Talk Beekeeping
Dealing with Old Queens and Old Frames
Simple questions don’t always have easy answers
Question: “Should I requeen every two years?” Answer: “Well, yes and no.” This common subject came up again during some short email interactions a few weeks ago. At first glance, and from the perspective of an established beekeeper, yep … you should requeen every two years. Next question? But wait. There’s more to it than that.
Consider this question: “Should I requeen every year?”
Beekeeping life was simpler a few decades ago. Beekeepers were given clear instructions such as: Requeen every two years, avoid pesticides, treat with Terramycin for American foulbrood prevention, don’t let the moths take over, and get your supers on before the nectar flow begins — just pretty much traditional beekeeping. Well, as usual, things change — maybe due to mites and maybe not — but for whatever reason, some of the basic rules of beekeeping are changing. So, should you requeen every year? Well, yes and no.
Queens
As I said have said in previous articles, I am unable to find a time in beekeeping’s history when beekeepers were generally happy with their queen stock. We have always been searching for the perfect queen strain. To this day, the search continues. If the common opinion of beekeepers today is an indicator, we have not found it.
By writing this piece, I suppose I am saying that I am one of the ones who is still looking for the perfect queen. For either the new or experienced beekeeper, when considering requeening, the first question must be, “Can I get good, replacement queens at the time I need them?”
Commercial queen production is tedious, weather-constrained, and imprecise. The current cadre of commercial queen producers, an industry treasure of experience and ability across the U.S., seemingly is a …
