Mats Andersson <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

I have this plastic grafting
> needle that i bought a few years back and i tried it this summer, but it
> seemed to be to clumsy to get the job properly done.

I always hated any grafting tool that didnt pick up the bed of jelly with
the larvae.And never liked priming cups,therefore the so called automatic
tool was my favorite until the Chinese tool came out .It does a better job
at a fraction of the cost of the old automatic tools.
 As for cell protectors,I only use them for cells put in full size
colonies.If you are very careful to graft only the tiniest larvae so you
dont have a virgin come out early,I wouldnt think you would need to do
that.I know some large scale queen raisers who take the cells out early
from the cell builders and put them into incubators,but for the rest of us
just being careful works pretty well.
 The main things with grafting are to be able to see the larvae well(you
have to have a good light source that wont dry out the larvae),they should
be well fed(floating in a pool of jelly)get the really young ones,dont flip
it over while transfering,and above all dont let them dry out.Also,spit out
your Copenhagen before you start, if you lick the needle to clean off
oversize grubs(I am not kidding.I know of one queen raiser who had a bad
take becuse of that) .If you graft slow, you can set each cell bar under a
damp towel.
------Mike