Queen rearing is a great way to increase your hives and can be combined with Varroa control. Raising queens introduces a brood break into the cycle of a hive. During this brood break a mite treatment can be used to kill almost all of the mites. I like to use Oxalic acid as it kills on contact and is natural and inexpensive. You do not have to be a sideliner beekeeper to raise queens. A few hives will suffice. You can raise up to 100 queens off of 1 hive. Raising queens is one

Varroa/Parasitic Mite Syndrome Varroa is one of the biggest problems in today’s beekeeping industry; proper understanding of them and the ability to identify the symptoms can help us effectively fight them. Symptoms/Identification Spotty Brood (can also be from a poor queen) Deformed wings Frequent spotting of mites on top of bees and in brood How it Spreads Robbing Foraging Drifting Diagnose Powder Sugar Roll Alcohol Wash Kills brood in all stages of development Treatment Ap