The Cyprus Agro Industry Centre Queen Rearing course teaches one method of rearing queens that works consistently for both hobby and commercial beekeepers. Topics covered include queen and drone biology, timing of queen rearing in our climates, stock selection and breeding for hygienic behavior, setting up mating yards, and record keeping. Everyone will have a chance to try their hand at grafting larvae and raising their own queens. A unique feature of the course is the section on queen rearing equipment designs that will allow you to build your own!
This course is for anyone interested in learning how to raise queens who has at least one year of beekeeping experience.
This class is up to 6 people. Registration is first come first served.
The course includes the following topics :
- Introduction to Queen Rearing
- Biology of Queens
- Equipment Used
- Record Keeping
- Choosing Breeder Stock
- Drones
- Commercial Queen Production
- Preparing Finishing Colony
- Preparing Swarm Box
- Grafting (hands on)
- Alternative Methods
- Procedure from Egg to Queen
- Queen Mating
- Practicing what you have learned
- Marking Queens
The course is an intensive course stretching over 30 days with group sessions and one to one training from the trainer .