November is a month in which colonies can run into queen problems. Depending on where you live, your hives may swarm anywhere between August and late November. In Canberra, for example, many hives were swarming in early and mid August. This has come earlier than, say, 10 years ago, but the warmer winter means swarming has occurred earlier than 'normal' (although with climate change the earlier times will become the new norm). Problems arise when the 'new' replacement queen does not mate successfully,ultimately resulting in the hive becoming queenless. Demand for queens from the queen breeders is high, and it is usually hard to obtain a queen on short notice, as the queen breeders are often booked out for months in advance. So what to do Try producing your own queens, on a small scale, The following is a reprint of an article published in The ABK in October, 2014, but the advent of new beekeepers makes a reprint timely.
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