Skip to content

Queen Breeding & Colony Splits

Bifolk helps you manage queen breeding programs and track colony splits. This guide covers queen rearing records, colony splitting, and the status workflows for both.

Target Audience: Beekeepers involved in queen breeding and colony management

Queen Breeding Records

Queen breeding records track the entire process of raising new queens, from planning through to confirmed laying.

Breeding List

Navigate to Breeding in the sidebar to see all your queen breeding records. The list shows:

  • Breeding date
  • Breeding method
  • Mother queen (linked to the queen detail page, if available)
  • Status
  • Cells started
  • Success rate (percentage of cells accepted out of cells started)

If you belong to multiple organizations and no specific organization is selected, records from all organizations are shown.

Filtering

Click Show Filters to open the filter panel. You can filter breeding records by:

  • Organization: Show records from a specific organization
  • Breeding Method: Filter by grafting, Miller, walk-away split, or other methods
  • Status: Filter by breeding cycle status (e.g., Planning, Grafted, Laying)
  • Start Date / End Date: Narrow results to a specific date range

Click Apply Filters to update the list, or Reset Filters to clear all filters.

Sorting

Click on the column headers to sort the list. Sortable columns are:

  • Date
  • Method
  • Mother Queen
  • Status

Creating a Breeding Record

  1. Navigate to Breeding in the sidebar
  2. Click New Breeding
  3. Fill in the form:
Field Description Required
Breeding Date Date breeding started Yes
Breeding Method Method used for queen rearing (e.g., Grafting, Miller, Nicot System) Yes
Status Current breeding cycle status Yes
Mother Hive Production hive providing genetic material (source of larvae/eggs) No
Drone Source Source of drones for mating (free text) No
Breed Line Bee breed line (e.g., Carniolan, Italian, Buckfast) No
Graft Date When larvae were grafted into queen cups No
Cells Started Number of queen cells started No
Cells Accepted Number of cells accepted by the colony No
Quality Rating Quality assessment of the breeding result No
Notes Additional information No
  1. Click Save

Tip

The organization is set automatically based on your currently selected organization. If no organization is selected, the mother hive's organization is used.

Viewing a Breeding Record

Click on a breeding record to see its detail page. The detail page shows:

  • Breeding Information: Organization, breeding date, method, status, breed line, drone source, breeder, and creation date
  • Timeline: Key dates in the breeding cycle -- graft date, emergence date, mating flight date, and first laying date (shown only when dates are recorded)
  • Mother Hive: The production hive providing genetic material, with a link to the hive detail page
  • Breeding Hive: The dedicated breeding hive used as the operational workspace, with a link to the hive detail page
  • Success Metrics: Cells started, cells accepted, success rate (acceptance percentage), queens emerged, queens mated, queens successfully laying, and quality rating
  • Notes: Any additional notes

Editing a Breeding Record

  1. Go to the breeding record detail page
  2. Click Edit
  3. Update the fields you want to change
  4. Click Save

The edit form includes additional fields not available during creation:

Field Description
Emergence Date When virgin queens emerged
Mating Flight Date When queens completed mating flights
First Laying Date When queens were confirmed laying
Queens Emerged Number of queens that emerged
Queens Mated Number that mated successfully
Queens Successfully Laying Number confirmed to be laying

Note

Only users with edit permissions (Admin or Owner in the organization, or the breeder who created the record) can edit breeding records.

Breeding Methods

The available breeding methods are configurable through the system configuration. Common methods include:

Method Description
Grafting Moving young larvae into queen cups
Miller Cut comb method
Walk-away Split Allow bees to raise emergency queens
Swarm Cell Using natural swarm cells
Nicot System Using Nicot queen rearing system

Info

Your organization administrator can customize the available breeding methods through the system configuration.

Breeding Status Workflow

Breeding records follow a defined lifecycle. Each status can only transition to specific next statuses:

Planning -> Grafted -> Accepted -> Capped -> Emerged -> Mated -> Laying
    |           |          |          |          |         |
    v           v          v          v          v         v
  Failed     Failed     Failed     Failed     Failed   Failed
Status Description Can transition to
Planning Breeding program is being planned Grafted, Failed
Grafted Larvae have been grafted into queen cups Accepted, Failed
Accepted Grafted cells have been accepted by the colony Capped, Failed
Capped Queen cells are capped Emerged, Failed
Emerged Virgin queens have emerged Mated, Failed
Mated Queens have completed mating flights Laying, Failed
Laying Queens are confirmed laying (terminal state) --
Failed Breeding attempt was unsuccessful (terminal state) --

Warning

Terminal states (Laying and Failed) cannot be changed. Make sure you set the correct status before saving.

Status changes are tracked automatically. Each change records who made it and when.

Colony Splits

Colony splits (also called making increase) create new colonies from existing ones. Bifolk tracks the split process from planning through to success.

Split List

Navigate to Breeding in the sidebar and click Colony Splits (or navigate directly to the splits list). The list shows:

  • Split date
  • Split type
  • Parent queen (linked to the queen detail page)
  • New hive (linked to the hive detail page)
  • Status
  • Success status (Successful or Pending)

Filtering

Click Show Filters to open the filter panel. You can filter colony splits by:

  • Organization: Show splits from a specific organization
  • Split Type: Filter by split method (e.g., Split, Nuc, Artificial Swarm)
  • Status: Filter by split status (e.g., Planned, Completed, Queenright)
  • Success Status: Filter by Successful or Pending
  • Start Date / End Date: Narrow results to a specific date range

Sorting

Click on the column headers to sort the list. Sortable columns are:

  • Date
  • Type
  • Parent Queen
  • Status
  • Successful

Creating a Colony Split

  1. Navigate to the colony splits list
  2. Click New Split
  3. Fill in the form:
Field Description Required
Split Date When the split was performed Yes
Split Type Method of colony division (e.g., Split, Nuc, Artificial Swarm) Yes
Status Current status of the split Yes
Parent Queen The queen whose colony is being split No
New Hive The new hive created from the split No
Frames Transferred Total number of frames moved to the new hive No
Brood Frames Number of brood frames transferred No
Honey Frames Number of honey frames transferred No
Queen Included Whether the old queen was moved to the new split No
Queen Cell Added Whether a queen cell was added to the split No
Queen Introduced Whether a mated queen was introduced No
Notes Additional details No
  1. Click Save

Note

Breeding hives cannot be used as the destination hive for colony splits. Only production hives can be selected as the new hive.

Tip

The organization is set automatically based on your currently selected organization. If no organization is selected, the parent queen's organization is used.

Viewing a Colony Split

Click on a colony split to see its detail page. The detail page shows:

  • Split Details: Split date, split type, frames transferred, status, and success status
  • Parent Queen: The source queen, with a link to the queen detail page
  • New Hive: The resulting hive, with a link to the hive detail page
  • Record Metadata: Organization, who performed the split, creation and update timestamps
  • Quick Actions: Direct links to view parent queen, view new hive, or create a new split
  • Notes: Any additional notes

Editing a Colony Split

  1. Go to the colony split detail page
  2. Click Edit
  3. Update the fields you want to change
  4. Click Save

The edit form includes additional fields not available during creation:

Field Description
Queen Introduction Date When a queen was introduced to the split
Queen Accepted Date When the introduced queen was accepted
First Eggs Seen When the first eggs were observed
Successful Mark whether the split was ultimately successful

Note

Only users with edit permissions (Admin or Owner in the organization, or the user who created the record) can edit colony splits.

Split Status Workflow

Colony splits follow a defined lifecycle:

Planned -> Completed -> Queenright -> Combined
               |             |
               |        Queenless -> Combined
               |             |
               v             v
            Failed        Failed
Status Description Can transition to
Planned Split is planned but not yet performed Completed, Failed
Completed Split has been performed Queenright, Queenless, Combined
Queenright New colony has a laying queen Combined
Queenless New colony does not yet have a laying queen Combined, Failed
Failed Split was unsuccessful (terminal state) --
Combined Split colony was merged back (terminal state) --

Warning

Terminal states (Failed and Combined) cannot be changed. Make sure you set the correct status before saving.

Info

The available split types and statuses are configurable by your organization administrator through the system configuration.

Linking Breeding Records to Queens

When a breeding program produces queens:

  1. Create the queen record in Queen Management
  2. Set the Breeding Record field on the queen to link it to the breeding program
  3. Set the Mother Queen to the breeder queen
  4. The queen's origin will show "Bred Here"

This creates a complete traceability chain: Breeding Program → Queen → Lineage.

What's Next