WHY RAISE YOUR OWN QUEENS? Beekeepers can get the bees to raise a new queen simply by making a queenless split with appropriately aged larvae. But at what cost. If we make a strong hive queenless. The Bees could have, during the 24 days of queenlessness, reared a full cycle of brood. A strong hive could easily rear several thousand new bees. We have lost the potential for about 20,000 or more workers by making this hive queenless, and the result is multiple queen cells, yet only one queen. We could make a small nuc with only a couple of thousand queenless bees rearing several queen cells. Those couple thousand bees would have only reared a few hundred workers in that time. But again, they raise several queen cells, and the results are the same, only one queen. The main objective of queen rearing is to raise the largest number of queens with the genetics that match your style of beekeeping from the least amount of resources. By using the queen rearing methods laid out by Best Bees you are making the least number of bees queenless for the least amount of time, resulting in a larger number of laying queens when you are done. WHAT ARE THE “BEST” QUEENS? The main reason everyone should raise their own queens is that you can select for the genetics matching your style of beekeeping. By raising our own queens, you can have a higher concentration of drones with those genetics mating with your queens. The Queen is one of the most important members of the hive. High-quality queens are key to successful beekeeping. The quality of your home grown queens can surpass all others, for your style of beekeeping. So to answer the question “What are the “Best” queens?” The answer will always be: “Yours.” Queen Rearing the “BEST” way DVD is a must-have for the first time queen breeder, as well as the experienced queen breeder. The “Best” way to rear queens is a no-nonsense approach to queen rearing. The methods shown here use a time-tested gimmick-free biological approach to queen rearing. Not only does it present you with fundamental queen rearing techniques, grafting, building cell starters and cell finishers, it does it in an easy to follow format, so you can start queen rearing today. No matter what your reason is for rearing queens, this DVD will walk you through the steps from grafting to placing queen cells. Subjects covered include: Early Queen Rearing, Biology of Queens, Biology of Drones, Bee Genetics, Queen Rearing Equipment, Queen Rearing Calendar, Selection of Breeder Queens and more. Learn how to Graft, Build Cell Starters and Cell Finishers. Queen Rearing is one of the most rewarding and fascinating aspects of beekeeping. You will find yourself enchanted by the queens you rear. This DVD is a must-have for every bee club library. Extras include a complete digital copy for your tablet or smart phone, and a Queen Rearing Calendar worksheet for your records. All for less than the price of a single mated queen start raising your own.