Hi Richard

You seem to be coping well, but for those who are unable to graft then one
of the kits such as the Jenter can work well - providing large numbers of
larvae of a known age; good description here:
http://www.cornwallhoney.co.uk/beepedia/jenter2.htm.

We find that a frequent cause of cells not being built is the presence of a
second queen in the colony - so many beekeepers fail to realise that many
colonies (I have seen 10% suggested) often have more than one queen,
particularly in those races that tend to supersede rather than swarm.  The
second queen will, of course, be unmarked and may be a virgin.

Best wishes

Peter 
52°14'44.44"N, 1°50'35"W

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