First graft of the season

[mbc]

As in the title, I've got my first couple of bars of cells grafted, it felt good!
I'm using a cell starter/finisher a la Michael Palmer, thanks for sharing Mike
I'm on holiday for a week and already looking forward to getting back and seeing the take, I hope the queenless cell starting part of the hive will happily reunite with the queenright side after eight days apart.

 

[For want of a better word]

I only have the cloake thrown over for 24 hours leaving the upper entrance open does not seem to make any difference either... bees use both top and bottom!

Yeghes da

 

[foghornleghorn]

Doing my first on Friday here, it's gone very cold but hoping for a good take

 

[madasafish]

Doing my first on Friday here, it's gone very cold but hoping for a good take

Saturday here ditto

 

[Eyeman]

Will be using as the rearing colony one which I've just removed the queen from that has just started producing swarm QC's. All QC's are uncapped so will be back in a week to remove all QC's and put my grafts in from my selected breeder colony. This has the added bonus of calming 'swarm fever' by making the rearing colony raise 2 rounds of queen cells. I'll then requeen the rearer from one of my over wintered nucs.

 

[Poly Hive]

Good luck to all.

Don't be disappointed at low acceptance rates in this cool weather. It does have a major effect.

Personally I am probably a month away from having the strength of bees to start.

PH

 

[daroco]

Have done several rounds now - the best take was 7/20, then 3, latest 2... I think the weather declining through April has been a factor, but also the tool. I used a paintbrush for the first round whereas I used the Chinese grafting tool for the second and third.

 

[Poly Hive]

Never got on with those tools, always used the double cranked stainless steel one. Great thing with it is you can press down into the wax cups to help slide the larvae off. More expensive yes but at half the cost of a queen cheap enough me thinks.


PH

 

[B+.]

Have done several rounds now - the best take was 7/20, then 3, latest 2... I think the weather declining through April has been a factor, but also the tool. I used a paintbrush for the first round whereas I used the Chinese grafting tool for the second and third.

I've just had to provide a queen rearing schedule for the BBKA Bee Breeding Certificate organizers (no plan ever survives first contact with the enemy though!).
The idea is that they pick two critical points in your schedule and come to assess what you're doing and why. In theory, my first set of grafts will go into the cell starter on 1st May. This looks the best day to graft according to the weather forecast at the moment. I'll raise daughters of 55-2-70-2016 (VSH line - https://youtu.be/KGZ0ZmN-W8M) and inseminate them with semen from 7 daughters of 6-1-1037-2015.
I have several different types of grafting tool but prefer the cheap Chinese grafting tool for its ease of depositing the larva into the cell cup. I find that too many get rolled over when I use the German (Swiss) cranked handle type of grafting tool.

 

[daroco]

I'm getting the feeling it's going to be a case of experimenting with a few until I find what I like best - although someone did suggest there's a better version of the Chinese grafting tool (although I can't seem to find anything other than the cheap ones).

 

[B+.]

I'm getting the feeling it's going to be a case of experimenting with a few until I find what I like best - although someone did suggest there's a better version of the Chinese grafting tool (although I can't seem to find anything other than the cheap ones).

There's a bamboo one available but the cheap plastic ones do just as well (and are cheap enough to throw away if you break something). There's also a spring mounted grafting tool (I think its an American design) that I've heard good things about. It is considerably more expensive though.
I know others start queen rearing earlier, but, I have found it pointless starting any earlier than the beginning of May in this area

 

[Finman]

.
Graft tool, I make it from a birch twig with knife.

 

[B+.]

I'm using a cell starter/finisher a la Michael Palmer, thanks for sharing Mike

The same method is often used in Germany. They call them "Bee Barns" over there.
Its amazing how many times the same idea is reinvented, often in ignorance of what others are doing.

 

[wightbees]

Weather here is all over the place! Was hoping for good weekend but i only have Saturday that's dry.

 

[Poly Hive]

Said it before and it bears repeating...

When I was working offshore and keeping bees commercially there was a certain pressure to achieve things before getting back on the chopper.

I grafted for ten days in crap weather very similar to what we now have. Success rate was rubbish, one or two from 36 and resultant cells puny.
Made up a new starter box (queenless bees) and weather changed that afternoon and got 32 out of 36 accepted.

DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE the importance of the weather.

PH

 

[beebreeder]

I agree with B+, i am in souuthern england and have tried in April, very rarely get a good enough take to justify the resourses used, leaving it to early May and hopefully as Polyhive says a weather improvement will make all the difference, its no good having loads of virgin queens unless the weather is good enough for open mating unless you are inseminating of course

 

[B+.]

I agree with B+, i am in souuthern england and have tried in April, very rarely get a good enough take to justify the resourses used, leaving it to early May and hopefully as Polyhive says a weather improvement will make all the difference, its no good having loads of virgin queens unless the weather is good enough for open mating unless you are inseminating of course

II requires a good supply of mature drones with plenty of semen. I find these just aren't available early in the season. They are either immature and don't evert properly or they have insufficient semen to justify the effort. In cold years like this year, I think this is especially true.

 

[Eyeman]

II requires a good supply of mature drones with plenty of semen. I find these just aren't available early in the season. They are either immature and don't evert properly or they have insufficient semen to justify the effort. In cold years like this year, I think this is especially true.

Do you think it's the lack of pollen that is delaying drone maturation? Would feeding pollen substitutes to those colonies help?

 

[B+.]

Do you think it's the lack of pollen that is delaying drone maturation? Would feeding pollen substitutes to those colonies help?

Pollen is essential but I don't believe substitutes are the answer. As PH said earlier, when the conditions are right, everything comes together. We can't MAKE the conditions right simply by feeding a substitute (possibly not even by feeding trapped pollen because the bees process it before using it).
I'd rather wait until the bees are ready. Then I know, I'll get the best drones I can get.

 

[Finman]

Do you think it's the lack of pollen that is delaying drone maturation? Would feeding pollen substitutes to those colonies help?

Drones are allways present.

IT is lack of mating weathers and temperatures what is needed in spring.

.