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Thread: Queen-rearing in a queen-right colony

  1. #11
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    Unless your are really clumsy which is unlikely, the key thing is the state of the colony. Some times I graft and they start 2/20, the next day it might be 18/20. As fatshark says, you can check very quickly. I remember once checking an hour after I did the grafts and they had removed all but one or two larvae. No need to wait a couple of days before checking.

  2. #12

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    Hi kitta
    chinese grafting tools are a bit stiff usually so I use Mrs DR 's emery boards to thin them down a bit

  3. #13
    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    Thank you, FS, Jon and DR. I did not know one can check the grafts so quickly. I'll let the colony recover now from all that kerfuffle I caused them and try again Monday or so.

    I tried all those tools: a 00 brush, the Chinese tool and a metal one. I mostly used the metal one. Perhaps I should have trimmed the cell walls more for a better angle.

    I'll try again!

    Kitta

  4. #14
    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    All I ever use is a 000 sable brush.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    All I ever use is a 000 sable brush.

    Me too, and a nice little light helps me get um up.

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    Senior Member Mellifera Crofter's Avatar
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    I think mine is 00 - I'll get a 000 brush. Do the larvae just stick to the brush, or do you manoeuvre the brush underneath the larva?
    Kitta

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    Senior Member Jon's Avatar
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    make sure to keep the larva near the tip of the brush rather than half way up. It will be much easier to leave in the cup.

  8. #18
    Senior Member Kate Atchley's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jon View Post
    Unless your are really clumsy which is unlikely, the key thing is the state of the colony. Some times I graft and they start 2/20, the next day it might be 18/20. As fatshark says, you can check very quickly. I remember once checking an hour after I did the grafts and they had removed all but one or two larvae. No need to wait a couple of days before checking.
    Recently I had very poor results from methods which generally work and it was during that very hot sunny weather, when the bees were foraging frantically. I wondered if they were simply too well fed and busy foraging and storing food to be bothered with drawing new cells. The queens were first year which is not ideal either.

    Set up 2 sets of "grafts" yesterday (daft name for moving larvae) and hope for better results. I tend to hold off checking for 4 days because I've know previously accepted cells be abandoned if checked too soon. However, that assumes there will be a result of some kind!

    Then there's the June gap coming up. That will make a difference too.

    Yes, conditions vary and matter and the influences on the bees can be hard to identify.

  9. #19
    Senior Member Kate Atchley's Avatar
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    Kitta, I was re-reading some queen rearing bumf and thought this was about as simple a method as can be achieved, if cells are to be started in a queenless environment and finished in a queen right colony. See http://www.dave-cushman.net/bee/pete...sstartfin.html

    I haven't tried precisely this method but something similar. It is more reliable starting QCs without contact being possible with the queen.

  10. #20
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    I use one colony for starting and raising.

    Remove Q on frame to nuc. Insert grafts (I use cell punch). for 24 hours.
    Shield started QCs with QE cover and replace Queen from nuc after 24 hours.

    Uses far fewer resources.

    (My queens are all marked and do NOT run).IMG_0253.JPG

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