Bigger Queens, Better Queens

Bigger Queens, Better Queens

Welcome to our online event where we celebrate all things queens!

In this talk I outline our current understanding of how colonies rear queens; the swarm, supersedure and emergency responses, queen mating and the number of drones the queen mates with, whether workers move eggs, which larvae the colony chooses to rear queens from and the maternal effect contributed by the queen. And, of course, why this is important.

I then use this information to discuss how beekeepers can exploit these studies for their queen rearing. Perhaps surprisingly, this understanding is likely to help inexperienced beekeepers that have been hesitant to attempt queen rearing (or who have been previously unsuccessful), and those with lots of experience but who are interested in producing bigger, better queens.

David Evans (The Apiarist)

David Evans is Emeritus Professor of Virology in the School of Biology, University of St. Andrews. His research interests included the replication and evolution of human and animal viruses, and the biology and control of both Deformed wing virus (DWV) and Chronic bee paralysis virus (CBPV) of honey bees.

Studies of honey bee viruses involved collaborations with groups in the Universities of Aberdeen (Alan Bowman) and Newcastle (Giles Budge), with the Science and Advice Service for Scottish Agriculture (SASA), and with a number of beekeeping associations.

David held previous academic positions at the Universities of Reading, Glasgow and Warwick, conducting research on HIV, HCV and poliovirus with extensive grant support from UK Research Councils and charities. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed publications and supervised more than 30 PhD. students.

David is an enthusiastic beekeeper – an activity that pre-dates his research on honey bee viruses by several years – and a member of Borders BKA, Fife Beekeepers, the East of Scotland BKA and Lochaber BKA. He runs about twenty colonies and is particularly interested in queen rearing, stock improvement and ‘pottering in the shed with bits of wood and a nail gun’.

While living in the Midlands, David's interest in DIY for beekeeping resulted in a regular column in the Warwick and Leamington Beekeepers newsletter Bee Talk which, over time, evolved into his personal beekeeping website The Apiarist. On this he covers topics as diverse as Varroa management, responsible mentoring, the price of honey and practical waspkeeping. New posts appear every Friday afternoon, and he regularly discusses recent scientific advances on the biology of honey bees. The popularity of his writing has resulted in numerous invitations to talk at local, national and international beekeeping meetings.

David now lives in the Scottish Borders.