First time grafting, tips

[mbc]

I use cloak boards but tend to leave the board in until the cells are sealed now. The only real advantage of the board is making reuniting the two boxes simple, it doesn't really help with set up as I tend to shake a good portion of the nest bees from the bottom into the top anyway.

 

[maddydog]

If you trial the chinese grafting tool then graft from older dark comb as the 'tongue' slides under the larvae much more easily

 

[Poly Hive]

Unlikely but yes the bees would dump it.

PH

 

[Finman]

There must be some chance!
If you had a laying worker....

Yeghes da

How that is possible? From where it came suddenly?

I bet that no beginner survive from his first grafting with these advices.
.

 

[fatshark]

I use cloak boards but tend to leave the board in until the cells are sealed now. The only real advantage of the board is making reuniting the two boxes simple, it doesn't really help with set up as I tend to shake a good portion of the nest bees from the bottom into the top anyway.

Surely if you rearrange the frames with open brood a day before and provide the relevant front/rear entrances this shouldn't be necessary? I've always liked the Cloake board as it's relatively undemanding in terms of colony management.

 

[mbc]

Surely if you rearrange the frames with open brood a day before and provide the relevant front/rear entrances this shouldn't be necessary? I've always liked the Cloake board as it's relatively undemanding in terms of colony management.

I used to rear cells as Sue Cobey and David Woodward outline with the cloak board and I was happy with the cells but it's always a work in progress and I tried a few times more along the lines of no young brood at all and lots of extra young bees shaken in (as in M P's method) and found I was even more impressed by the resulting cells. It does require support colonies to boost the cell raisers early on but I find it well worth the extra investment.

 

[drex]

Another vote for cloaked board and to graft from old comb. As I found out last year a grafting tool can go right through the cell base in new comb

 

[Finman]

.
Instead of cloaking board I use a hive which is in swarming fever. They are just doing their queen cells and grafting succes is sure. No need to strenghten them with feeder bees...

Last summer I had a 3 box hive which wanted to swarm. I took one box and the queen and moved to another place. Brood box I used for queen rearing.

I took present queen cells off. After 3 days the colony was willing to do new queen cells everywhere. Miller frame gove best result.

Yeah... I have reared queens 50 years with "official way" but in small scale there are easier ways. To rear 1500 queens or 15 is very different system.