Want to learn how to rear high-quality queen bees?

Want to learn instrumental insemination of queen bees?

Specialized classes, taught by bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, are scheduled next spring at the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at UC Davis. Registration is now under way.

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It's all about improving stock.

“Major advances in agriculture are due to stock improvement, and this also applies to honey bees,” Cobey said. "With the increasing challenges of beekeeping today, the selection of honey bee stocks that are productive, gentle and show some resistance to pests and diseases is critical to the future health of the beekeeping industry, agriculture and our food supply.”

Detailed information on the workshops and photos from the August 2009 class are on the UC Davis Department of Entomology Web site.

Due to popular demand, Cobey is teaching two one-day workshops on "The Art of Queen Rearing" in the spring. The March 31 class will be geared toward sideline beekepers and the April 7th class, toward commercial beekeepers. The classes are designed to provide an understanding and appreciation of what it takes to rear high-quality queens.

Cobey will present basic biology and principles of queen rearing.   Beekeepers will be involved in the various steps of the process including setting up cell builders, grafting, handling queen cells and establishing mating nucs. 

One of the highlights of the "Art of Queen Rearing" workshop is the daylong tour  (optional) to see large-scale commercial queen production in northern California. The students will visit several companies. The tours will take place the day after each workshop (specifically April 1 and April 8).

The honey bee population is declining throughout the world, but not the interest in the art of queen rearing.

The annual class taught by bee breeder-geneticist Susan Cobey, manager of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility at the University of California, Davis, filled up within a week and 25 are on the waiting list for next year.

It’s so popular that Cobey may teach two classes in 2010: one for commercial beekeepers and one for hobbyists.

The class, set March 17-19, includes two days of classroom and hands-on beekeeping, and an optional tour on March 19 of large scale commercial queen production facilities in northern California.

The class “is designed to provide an understanding and appreciation of what it takes to rear high-quality queens,” said Cobey, who accepts only 20 students per course.

Cobey, whose background includes operation of a commercial queen production and bee breeding business,  will present information on bee biology and principles of queen rearing.

“The beekeepers will be involved in the various steps of the process including setting up cell builders, grafting, handling queen cells and establishing mating nucs (nucleus hives),” Cobey said. She also discuss the importance of drone production and establishing mating areas.

Her queen bee instrumental insemination classes at UC Davis draw students from throughout the world.  Cobey will teach “Instrumental Insemination and Bee Breeding Workshop” April 14, 15 and 16, and the “Advanced Workshop on the Technique of Instrumental Insemination” April 22 and 23. The list of registrants includes beekeepers from Japan, Israel and Chile.

For the art of queen rearing class, it’s BYOV.

That means “bring your own veil.”