>
> >These originally had a bamboo
> ‘pusher’ which seemed to work very well; with practise it became the tool
> of
> choice.


After many years of grafting with all kinds of tools, once I got the hang
of the Chinese tool I never looked back.   also prefer the wooden pusher to
the plastic.

>
> >The drawback with the Chinese tool is that with very small larvae it is
> easy
> to squash them between the tongue and the pusher.
>


> I have better luck with the wooden pushers.  Soak the tortoiseshell scoop
> in your mouth for a minute to soften it, and bend it hard when you push
> down on the plunger to prevent crushing small larvae.
>
> >Does [age of larvae] really make any difference to the quality of the
> finished queen?
>

As far as the bees are concerned it does.  See Winston's work cited in my
latest article (on swarming) in ABJ. Bees naturally cull out any queen
cells started with larvae older than one day old.

-- 
Randy Oliver
Grass Valley, CA
www.ScientificBeekeeping.com

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