Rearing Queen Bees (A Smile on the Face)

What is the right measure of success in beekeeping? What is in fact important?The proper measure of success is the smile on the beekeeper's face. Most people will say that they are involved in beekeeping out of love for bees. I believe in love, but I strongly believe that the interest is the main motivator in most cases. However, interests may also be different. Some people want to spend more time in nature or with bees for their own health. It is an interest. Some of them want to fill the gap in their household budget by producing and selling bee products. It is also an interest. There are also those who see their existence in beekeeping. It is another interest, and so on.The interests are clear enough, and of course it is in everyone's interest to have a smile on their faces. Strong bee colonies will provide us with the surplus of bee products. It will also help us get to what is in our interest and have a smile on the face. I have no desire to elaborate on weak bee colonies. As it is well known, they are a great suffering for beekeepers and the main cause of disappointment. Weaklings in the beehive can only give the beekeeper a headache. If we want to create strong bee colonies, we should first establish a strong base for them. A good and high-quality queen bee is the basis for establishing a strong bee colony. If we fail to have such queen bees in our beehives, all other things that we do will not bring the desired results. It is needless to talk about a smile on the face. Beekeepers realized the importance of good queen bees a long time ago, so they called them "a soul of the beehive," and producing them "the poetry of beekeeping."Throughout the history of beekeeping, there have been various bee experts who approached this topic differently. Currently, the situation is pretty much the same. Requeening every year is recommended, regardless of which technology is applied. There are also different views on that. Replacing queen bees with natural queen cells is also recommended. The queen bees from the silent replacement are praised as the best. There are some opposite opinions. And it all goes into a circle. It is just a proof that there is not an absolute truth in beekeeping, that the beekeeping science and practice are differing, rarely approaching and cooperating. To be successful, we must check in practice all these things that are recommended in theory. If an idea seems good at a first glance, but it fails in practice, then it is not a good idea. The process of raising queen bees is often described as complicated and difficult. Raising queen bees is described in the literature as something that only chosen beekeepers can do. I think that it has been done on purpose so that a small number of queen bee raisers could have their own market. Raising queen bees is not at all that complicated. Those who dare trying to raise queen bees for their own needs know that well. You just need to follow the rules that are in harmony with nature to meet the needs of bees and you will be satisfied with the results. For better understanding of the bee nature and creating conditions for gaining the smile on the face, first we should become acquainted with that "a soul of the beehive". We can learn numerous details about the morphology and physiology of queen bees from the literature written by experts in this field. It is also good to know all that. However, we will look at the essence that every beekeeper, future queen bee breeder, should know. If you find this introduction too boring, please do not skip it and go to another chapter. Close the book and give up raising queen bees! If you are ready to endure the more difficult subject, proceed. Keep on reading. You have a good chance to learn how to raise high quality queen bees. Congratulations, you will be tested in "the poetry of beekeeping". Put a smile on your face!