Ohio Queen Bees - Locally raised queens for Local Beekeepers

	Ohio Queen Bees Locally raised queens for local beekeepers
	Ohio Homestead Gardens & Apiaries Lancaster, Ohio Email:

“Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and then go do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ---Harold Thurman Whitman

There are certain pursuits which, if not wholly poetic and true, do at least suggest a nobler and finer relation to nature than we know. The keeping of bees, for instance." -Henry David Thoreau

NOTE: Although I am a member of the Ohio State Beekeeping Association, this queen rearing operation is not affiliated with the OSBA's Queen Project and does not produce queens from instrumentally inseminated stock nor are they "Certified Ohio Queens".

Queen Rearing and Bee Links

Eastern Apicultural Society (EAS)

Heartland Apicultural Society (HAS)

Western Apicultural Society (WAS)

Ohio State Beekeepers Assoc.

East Central Ohio Beekeepers

Beeculture

The American Bee Journal

American Beekeeping Federation

American Honey Producers

Ohio Homestead

     We are now rearing queens with the intention of providing local beekeepers (and myself!) with queen bees reared in the geographic area and climate type where they will be used.
     A nationwide effort to implement this strategy, in small, localized cells, will provide beekeepers a healthier bee population without the constant transmission of pests and diseases across the country or the stress inflicted on queens in extended shipping.
    Of course, this will not be easy. In many cases, it will take a change in the mindset of beekeepers. Ohio weather will hamper the typical spring desire for queens and rearing must be done somewhat later in the season, especially if the queens are to be evaluated fairly prior to the sale. This means the development of a program similar to Kirk Webster's in Vermont. Queens reared later can be used to requeen colonies in the summer or for summer nucs raised to be overwintered and then available in the spring.
                I use grafting and graftless methods of queen rearing including the Nicot system, the Hopkins or Case Method, and combinations of the Alley and/or Jay Smith method. I like the idea of having minimal disruption in the feeding of the larval state which Jay Smith mentions in "Better Queens" but sometimes need precludes.

Here are pics of some 2009 cells. Some 2008 queens. Here's some pics of my 2007 attempts at the Hopkins method and some queen cells reared using the Nicot system.

If you are interested in local raw honey, comb honey, creamed honey, or beeswax products, please visit www.ohiohomestead.com. For information on nucs for sale, see OhioNucs. For pollination information utilizing honey bees and alternative pollinators, see OhioPollination. Thanks!