First breeding season for me......question on best time to introduce males......

Sorry if this is a repetitive question. I have read so many things on introducing males to females, different times, cooling opinions, etc. I had originally planned on cooling my BP's in October and introducing the males after my girls shed. I have been seeing a lot of people posting threads about introducing their males early and not cooling. I figured since I have a proven 3500g and 2400g female, I would introduce my 08 male bee to them, 3 days on and 3 days off. I was going to wait three days after I feed them all......today is feeding day so Wed would be the day. I did not check for sperm plugs or anything and just figured what the hell, lets see if they lock.

The weather is still warm here in Dallas but the high is going to be 88* and cloudy, most likely starting to slowly cool from now through Oct. The normal high has been in the high 90's or so for most of the summer. Any advice or do you guys think this is ok?

bumping 'cause I'm curious as well

I do 3 on 2-3 off, I'm in FL and keep their room at 79*, I don't cool, but this past season was late & wacky for me as well, got first clutch mid June, clutches 2-3 are incubating now, with 2 more girls due to lay soon. My last girl to lay never refused the male I was still seeing locks on 9/7, she laid on 9/14 (I think).

Put them together, especially during stormy weather, the drop in barometric pressure triggers them also.

In two days, we are suppose to get storms so the normal high is going from 94-95* to 86-88*. I may throw my boys in with the girls that are ready Wed or Thur. They all just ate on Sunday so I will let them have 4 days to digest. One of my males is about to shed too so I guess I will wait on him. I am going to go 3 days on 3 days off. I know it may have been a lame question but I wanted to be sure. Thanks!

I think this was a good question! I like the way people help each other out on this forum! Keep us posted on your project:bow::bow::bow:

Yeah, everyone on this forum is great. I have no clue what I would do without this site. I was concerned about checking for sperm plugs, putting them together after sheds, spraying water in the tubs with the male's shed scent, temps, etc but I guess I just need to put my boys with my girls and let nature (hopefully) just take its course. If my boys have sperm plugs, I guess they will use em. If not, I guess I won't have any clutches! I have an 08 male bee and 08 male pin, so hopefully they are good and ready to go......both about 750 grams.

www.weather.com is your friend. I cycle, 3 on 4 off, but I really watch the barametric pressure. When low fronts roll through, some people will refer to them as cold fronts, or rainy stormy weather the barametric pressure drops. I have always been successful breeding during these fronts with low BP. Different places has different "normal barrametric pressure" so start researching now. Track the pressure a couple times a day then when a front comes record the drop. The numbers will not drop dramaticly but will drop. Beside the pressure will also be a symbol telling you if it is going back up, still dropping, or holding steady. This has always been very good information in my breeding process.

This is my first year, too, so take everything I say with a grain of salt if you like. ;)

This season, I'm breeding:

1.0 Pastel x 0.3 Normal
1.1 Het Piebald

I was doing the same thing, planning on dropping temps through Oct, then introducing in November, but I got antsy seeing everybody talk about how they introduce without cooldowns, etc. so I put both my boys in on Saturday night. Within a day, here's what I saw:

Het Pieds
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_i40u7fgLnQ8/TJ...0/IMG_1207.JPG

Pastel x Normal
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_i40u7fgLnQ8/TJ...0/IMG_1210.JPG

Looks like it works! (At least sometimes.) :gj:

dang all this breeding talk makes me wanna start ahead of schedule to :P, Was hoping to stick to the plan, have my 'bator all built before I even make my first pairing, in mid Nov. Maybe Ill just wait till I switch the light cycle next week, bet I have that much willpower;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Hilltop

dang all this breeding talk makes me wanna start ahead of schedule to :P, Was hoping to stick to the plan, have my 'bator all built before I even make my first pairing, in mid Nov. Maybe Ill just wait till I switch the light cycle next week, bet I have that much willpower;)

---

lol no, you probably aready threw a male in to see what would happen ;)