Have been reading the AFB OTC resistance tennis match with great interest, especially since many moons ago my thesis was titled "The effects of heavy metals, organometals and metalloid compounds on enzyme activity and microbial methods of detoxification", but have a different topic along the lines of 'And now for something completely different'.

I just made my first attempt at raising queens by grafting.  Now, I am a complete and total newbie at this - I bought a Chinese grafting tool, a cell frame with the push-in cups, did a lot of reading, watched a couple of videos on YouTube and went at it on my kitchen table (Yes, attending a course would be nice, but my business travel made that impossible this year).  Figured I would learn as I go and any resulting queen cells would be a success.  Grafted 32 larvae last weekend from my VSH queen and set the frame in my starter/finisher hive, in which I am using a Cloake board.  Checked yesterday and have four cells, so I can do it, but need to practice (For example, it appears that using a sideways scooping motion, like a spoon in soup, is better than stabbing straight down the side of the cell and pulling up).  With only a dozen hives, I don't need huge batches of queens, so a series of small successes (i.e. low percentages of queen cells per grafting attempt, which, hopefully, will improve over time) works for me as well as one big success.  Besides, it's a cool process,and I am really enjoying it (said the Once and Future Nerd).

In a few days the queen cells will go into mating nucs.  My question is - what's the best way to place the cells?  Just slide them between two frames, being careful not to crush them?  That what I did with my first queen cell (before grafting, I tried the Nicot system, got a bunch of larvae, but also got a sumer flu that delayed my transfer of the cups by a day.  Learned the hard way - only one successful queen cell - that timing is critical), and it appeared to hatch fine.  But, I am wondering if there is a better/preferred way to add the queen cell.

As I just wrote, first tried the Nicot system.  It worked - she laid up in all the cells and most hatched (while I screwed up the timing), but it seemed a lot of work to find the queen, contain her in the system, open and check for eggs/larvae and then transfer to the frame with timing being so critical.  Grafting just seemed to me to be better (for overall success - not time critical, for the queen - no handling, and for the hive - less disruptive to their brood rearing cycle), once you learn the technique, because you just go into the hive, find a frame with a nice laying pattern, and select young larvae from the ring inside the eggs (if you picture the pattern as a classic bull's eye of capped brood, then open older brood, then open younger brood, then eggs).  Or, am I missing something?

Tips, tricks, advice, admonishments, all appreciated.

Thanks,

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Bill
Claremont, NH
+43.35687 +43° 21’ 25”
-72.3835   -72° 23’ 01”
CWOP: D5065
Weather Underground: KNHCLARE3
HonetBeeNet: NH001

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