> Hello,
>
> Would anyone know if there is a book descibing Quenn Rearing with
> the Jentner (sp.?) System?  Also does anyone have any strong
> feelings one way or another about the system itself or it potential
> use by a novice at queen rearing?
 
Any good book on queen rearing will provide the understanding of the
basic principles of queen rearing.  They are the same regardless of
what method you use to transfer larvae.  It is very important to
understand *all* the principles if you expect to get queens at all,
let alone good ones.
 
My wife had trouble getting the system to work consistently, although
she has had no difficulty producing thousands of excellent cells and
queens by grafting.
 
I couldn't understand it, so tried myself and found that it was
difficult to use compared to just selecting a frame with young
larvae and grafting.  For one thing, we had trouble getting the queen
to lay in it (maybe it was just a poor day), and didn't stick to it.
 
(There are days when queens just don't lay - we had an expensive
marked breeder that just stopped laying for a week or two when all the
others were laying fine - as Pooh says:"You just can't tell about
bees". - Then she started up again.)
 
Having said that, I know people who swear by it and wouldn't be
without it.  I don't really know why it didn't work well for us
except that we already knew much simpler and easier methods of doing
the job.
 
Normal grafting is not hard at all if you take an hour or two to
learn. However the system of plugs might be good if your vision is bad
and your fingers very stiff.
 
If you want to learn to graft, your local bee club or
government bee people may well offer courses where you can learn the
subtle little things that make the job go better.  Or you can learn
from a book.
 
Good luck
Regards
 
Allen
 
W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper                                         VE6CFK
RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta  Canada T0M 1Y0  Internet:[log in to unmask]
Honey. Bees, Art, & Futures <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka>