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Increasing Your Number of Colonies
whilst retaining control over genetics

The methods detailed here do not just provide more colonies, but they ensure that the intended breeding lines are followed allowing scope for further selection.

Method one
Requires ten colonies in one apiary and space in a second apiary to move the extra nucs and colonies to. It will also result in a little honey, which will offset the feeding of the earliest new units. The extra equipment can be made or acquired week by week as the method progresses on a Saturday to Saturday weekly timetable (Sunday if wet). Two extra colonies (strong nucs) are produced every week.

Method Two
There are several versions of this method... It uses one strong colony to raise and finish the cells as per the BIBBA method or Cloake method. Finally the colony is split into six or eight nucs for queen emergence and mating in a similar fashion to that employed by Vince Cook.

Method Three
Is a variation on the Horsley swarm control method. It can be used on any number of colonies that already have the desired strain of queen and can be repeated several times in a good season. The variation covering increase is near the bottom of the Horsley board main page.

Written... Autumn 2000, Revised... 19 June 2001, Revised... 21 January 2003,

Increasing Your Number of Colonieswhilst retaining control over genetics

Method one

Method Two

Method Three

Increasing Your Number of Colonies
whilst retaining control over genetics