Breeding the Honeybee

Brent Nixon
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Nature
  • Updated Weekly

All about bee breeding. Episodes range from: bee genetics, stories about bee breeding, analysis of research and interviews with people in this field.

  1. 39) Raf Augustyn (NZ)

    Jun 7

    39) Raf Augustyn (NZ)

    Raf is a queen breeder based in New Zealand. He makes his own mating nucs that are based on the sizes used in Europe.  0:45 Mating Nuc Design  3:15 Using mating nucs as cell raisers  3:30 Using mating nucs for breeder queens  3:47 Using mating nucs as queen banks  3:57 Fixing failing mating nucs  4:30 Comparisons to poly mini nucs  5:00 queen quality in larger nucs  6:06 Full size mating nucs  9:19 European influence 10:54 Isolation Cages  12:09 Isolation queen bank  14:30 Custom queen excluders  16:15 Raf’s business  Check out Raf's business here. https://www.manaqueen.co.nz/ Join the podcast Facebook community group - This is a great place to comment on the episode, share some of your own tips or just say hi! https://www.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybeePodcast proudly brought to you by  Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia) https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/ Music byhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL0pcAGV4g67jCxGIPWv9iQ

    17 min
  2. 38) Amy Dunn (NZ)

    11/09/2025

    38) Amy Dunn (NZ)

    Amy is a queen breeder. Her business is called Kereru Queen bees, which she runs with her two sisters and their husbands. The business was originally started by Amy’s father John over 40 years ago. The business is based in Kereru, a small farming district 60 km's southwest from Napier/Hastings on the eastern foothills of the northern Ruahine ranges in Hawkes Bay. Contact Amy - kereruqueenbees@gmail.com If you are interested in reading a nice book about Amy's Grandfather growing up with the bees you can email Amy's mother - jenny-dobson@xtra.co.nz I have a copy of this book which my family read in one sitting and loved it.  Check out Amy's dad queen cell carriers here https://www.carricell.com/ An interview with Amy's grandfather from 2015 https://knowledgebank.org.nz/audio/berry-ian-interview/ Comment or leave feedback on the episode post in the Facebook group for this podcast  https://www.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybee Podcast proudly brought to you by  Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia) https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/ Email Brent  brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au Episode Music https://audionautix.com/ 0:00 Intro and family 6:10 Kinds of bees  9:35 UbeeO 11:00 Randy Oliver 12:05 Kirk Webster 12:55 Ray Butler 13:10 AFB 15:35 Mating nucs 19:03 Cells  25:00 Fun facts

    27 min
  3. 37) Chris Bartel (CA)

    08/01/2025

    37) Chris Bartel (CA)

    Chris is a 3rd generation beekeeper from Canada. His family specialise in imports of packages and queens. You can find the family’s business at https://www.bartelbeeco.ca/  Comment or leave feedback on the episode post in the Facebook group for this podcast  https://www.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybee This podcast is proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees in Ballarat Australia. Email Brent at brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au 0:00 Family 7:59 Shipping queens internationally 12:40 Old way of beekeeping in Canada 16:10 Wintering  18:55 Ezy Loader Episode Music https://audionautix.com/

    23 min
  4. 36) Monika Leleń (PL)

    06/17/2025

    36) Monika Leleń (PL)

    Monika is a polish queen breeder. Together with her team they produce a staggering 35000 virgin queens for sale each year. This is a popular way to purchase queens in Poland. They also produce mated and instrumentally inseminated queens. Monika’s team uses a range of techniques that lead them to achieve incredibly high levels of efficiency in the production of quality queens.   You can follow Monika’s work here.  https://www.facebook.com/akademiapszczelarza https://pasieka-szeligow.pl/ Join the podcast Facebook community group - This is a great place to comment on the episode, share some of your own tips or just say hi! https://www.facebook.com/groups/breedingthehoneybee Podcast proudly brought to you by  Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia) https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/ Email Brent  brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au Special thanks to Marc Hillen and Anita Long for helping to set up this interview. Photo by Marc Hillen Episode Music https://audionautix.com/

    29 min
  5. 35) Chris Werner (US)

    05/17/2025

    35) Chris Werner (US)

    Chris is a queen breeder and honey producer who has a family based bee business that operates between Florida and Wisconsin in the US.  Chris's Website Chris's Business Facebook Page  Join the 'Breeding the Honeybee' Facebook group to be apart of future live streams This podcast is proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees in Ballarat Australia. Email Brent at brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/nixonqueenbees/ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/nixonqueenbees/ YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/@NixonQueenBees Episode Music https://audionautix.com/

    40 min
  6. 34) Krispn Given (US)

    04/16/2025

    34) Krispn Given (US)

    Krispn is an Apiculture Specialist at Purdue University’s Department of Entomology in West Lafayette Indiana USA. He runs a program breeding mite biting bees. Krispn is also the co-owner of a company that produces high quality instrumental insemination equipment made in the US.  Apis Engineering's Website Krispn's profile at Purdue University  Join the podcast Facebook community group - This is a great place to comment on the episode, share some of your own tips or just say hi! Podcast proudly brought to you by  Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia) https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/ Episode Music https://audionautix.com/

    24 min
  7. 33) Marc Hillen (NO)

    03/16/2025

    33) Marc Hillen (NO)

    Marc is a queen breeder and uses instrumental insemination to produce every queen in his apiary. In this episode we cover some of the challenges of II and the interesting way in which they handle varroa in Norway.  Norwegian beekeepers can purchase Marc’s queens from his website. Marc can also be contacted through his Facebook page If you liked this episode you might want to consider joining the Facebook group for this podcast. It's a great way to leave feedback, get notifications on new episodes and participate in live sessions. Podcast proudly brought to you by  Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees (Ballarat VIC, Australia) https://nixonqueenbees.com.au/ Email Brent  brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au

    32 min
  8. 32) AQBBA Breeding Program 2024-29

    12/17/2024

    32) AQBBA Breeding Program 2024-29

    In this live podcast with Peter Czeti, we discuss the Australian Queen Bee Breeders Association AQBBA breeding plan from 2024-2029. This live session included a QandA. If you would like to hear that part you can watch is on the 'Breeding the Honeybee' Facebook group.  If you would like to be part of the program please contact Peter on the AQBBA website.  This podcast is proudly brought to you by Brent Nixon at Nixon Queen Bees in Ballarat Australia. Email Brent at brent@nixonqueenbees.com.au Episode Music https://audionautix.com/

    25 min
See All (40)

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About

All about bee breeding. Episodes range from: bee genetics, stories about bee breeding, analysis of research and interviews with people in this field.

Information

  • Creator
    Brent Nixon
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Brent Nixon
  • Show Website
    Breeding the Honeybee

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