No. 35
HiveMeadow
HiveMeadow
The Betterbee Cloake Board Queen Rearing System is a solid, well-built option for beekeepers ready to move beyond swarm-cell queen rearing into controlled, grafting-based queen production.
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The Betterbee Cloake Board Queen Rearing System is a solid, well-built option for beekeepers ready to move beyond swarm-cell queen rearing into controlled, grafting-based queen production. It takes the guesswork out of assembling your own cloake board and pairs well with Betterbee's other queen rearing accessories, making it a practical investment for hobbyists and sideliners scaling up their queen production.
Derived from this product's specification, features and owner reports.
The Betterbee Cloake Board Queen Rearing System is a purpose-built beekeeping tool designed to help both hobbyist and commercial beekeepers raise high-quality queens using the time-tested Cloake board method. This system works by temporarily dividing a single strong colony into a queenless and queenright section using a sliding board with a metal tray insert, allowing beekeepers to create the ideal conditions for grafted larvae to be accepted and raised into robust queen cells. Rather than requiring beekeepers to maintain separate cell-starter and cell-finisher colonies, the Cloake board method leverages one populous hive with ample nurse bees and food resources, making queen production more efficient, accessible, and less labor-intensive for those looking to expand their apiaries or replace failing queens.
Constructed with beekeeping durability in mind, the Betterbee Cloake board fits standard ten-frame Langstroth equipment and is typically made from quality wood with a metal insert tray that slides in and out to control the queenright and queenless phases of the process. The board sits between two hive bodies, and by inserting the metal divider, beekeepers can temporarily isolate the upper chamber containing the grafted queen cell frame from the queen below, tricking the nurse bees into believing they are queenless and prompting them to begin drawing out queen cells with vigor. After a short period, the divider is removed, reuniting the colony's pheromone communication while the bees continue finishing the queen cells with the resources of the entire strong colony, resulting in well-fed, well-attended queen cells that tend to produce superior quality queens compared to less controlled methods.
This system is especially valuable for beekeepers serious about queen rearing as a regular part of their operation, whether for requeening their own colonies, selling queens to other beekeepers, or breeding for specific traits like gentleness, productivity, or mite resistance. Betterbee's version of the Cloake board is designed for ease of use, fitting seamlessly into existing hive setups without requiring additional specialized boxes beyond what most beekeepers already have on hand. Paired with grafting tools, cell bars, and starter frames, the Cloake board becomes the centerpiece of a queen rearing operation, offering a reliable, repeatable process that removes much of the guesswork from raising quality queens and helps beekeepers maintain strong, sustainable colonies year after year.
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