Single and double king colonies have always been controversial in the beekeeping community management and breeding methods, and there has been no consensus. Because there are many conditions restricting beekeeping production, the results obtained by various beekeepers are also different, so long-term disagreement has been formed. But there is only one truth, and as time passes, beekeepers will finally get a consensus.
In my more than 60 years of beekeeping practice, I have compared "Bee Colony Biology" and "CNC Beekeeping Method" to talk about my personal understanding of double-king group breeding. There is only one purpose, that is, to throw bricks and lead jade to improve together. If there is any inaccuracy, please correct it from your friends.
(1) What is the starting group of the double king group:
The initial colony of the double king group is very important to the speed of breeding bee colonies and the subsequent production, but many beekeepers have long ignored it, believing that the double king group can be organized with a queen bee.
In our beekeeping community, it is clear that when the bee colony breeds to more than 8 frames, the number of eggs laid by the queen bee and the number of feeding bees are gradually inversely proportional, and the phenomenon of excess feeding bees is presented, and the double queen group is organized to feed the remaining bees, which can give full play to the role of the two queen bees.
When the bee colony develops to the late stage of the proliferation stage, the rapid increase in the number of worker bees, the increase in the number of eggs laid by the queen of bees can no longer meet the need for the growth of feeding power, and the population shows that the number of young bees has accumulated, and the feeding power is gradually remaining. In this case, adding a queen bee to the colony to lay eggs, and using the remaining feeding bees to re-breed the bee colony is a very favorable measure to expand the reproduction and collect age-appropriate bees and increase the productivity of the bee colony. In particular, the continuous source of honey in spring is also the best way for bee colonies to produce high yields in a single colony.
However, before the bee colony has a surplus of young bees, that is, the early stage of the colony proliferation stage, the breeding efficiency of the double royal group will be lower than the former, so that the double royal colony of the organization can only normally play the reproductive efficiency of the two queens when the feeding power of the worker bee is compatible with the spawning rate of the two queen bees.
In the "NUMERICAL Beekeeping Method" (textbook), we are told that beekeepers are called the best group breeding swarms when the bee colony develops to a slight surplus of feeding bees. At this time, the colony reproduces quickly and of good quality, making full use of the feeding rate of the colony and the spawning power of the queen. So I think that when the colony starts to exceed the optimal breeding colony, it is possible to organize the double king colony and use the remaining feeding bees for reproduction. When less than the optimal breeding swarm, the feeding bees in the bee colony are not excessive, if you join a queen bee organization double king group, then there will be a situation of "more insects and fewer bees", so that the larvae can not get sufficient nutrients, although the young bees are out of the room more, but the physique is poor, the life expectancy is short, it is not worth the loss.
Region, climate, honey source, bee species are different, the best breeding group is also different, pulp type bees are generally 6-7 spleens, northern bees are generally 8-9 spleens, do not die to move hard sets. This is what I have always taught my beekeepers in all my beekeeping articles.
Synthesizing the above theories has been very clear to the beekeepers that the double king colony can only be organized when the group exceeds the optimal breeding group. At the same time, it is also revealed to our beekeeping friends that when the production group falls to the optimal reproduction, it should be considered, and if the group is declining, the double king group should be merged into a single king group, otherwise the recovery effect on the bee colony is poor. As experienced beekeeping teachers, Qiu Fan will not engage in double king breeding, and the reason is among them.
(2) The Two Kings and Wound Fever:
The controversy of the two kings is also a different understanding of the beekeeping community, each expressing their own opinions and not being willing to give up. I recommend pages 10-11, 85-87 pages in Swarm Biology to my friends. Look at what Taranov said and you might find the right answer.
The 22 trials in the 86-page table of Bee Colony Biology show us that group 3 (6 control groups on the field) has 60% more juvenile bees than the first group (a large group of 6 queen bees), which is in line with the biological law of "the intensity of breeding bees decreases with the growth of the colony". However, the third group and the second group (in the beehive with 6 groups) are the same size of the group, living independently in the 6 groups, but the second group is raised in a large box with 40 boxes and 6 rooms with open nest doors, what is the reason why the queen bee spawn is basically the same, and the childcare is reduced by about 30%? Taranov did not delve deeply at the time.
Seventeen years later, in 1950, Taranov conducted a test on a 500 g bee colony, and the result was that "1 Peta honey consumption is less" at a temperature of 18 to 25 ° C, which is in line with the basal metabolism of bees, that is, the longest lifespan of bees at this temperature.
Obviously, the heat dissipation in the middle of group 2 was poor, and the field wasps aged prematurely and died prematurely, so there was a significant reduction in childcare.
Combined with the above, the double king group is more prone to injury fever than the two separate single king groups. According to the biological law that "the strength of breeding bees decreases with the growth of the bee colony", the double king group does not reproduce as fast as the two single king groups. Therefore, in general, the double king group is not as good as the single king group. But from the perspective of the hive, the production of the double-king group is definitely higher than that of the single-king group.