Bill Lord said " Does anyone have any tips
for getting grafts accepted and cells built in hot weather?  My
percentages go way down once it gets hot."

 Bill, there are 2 main problems associated with raising queens in the field in hot weather. 

The first is preventing the grafted larva from drying out during grafting and transfer of the cell bar back into the cell builder colony. Here in Western Australia, most of my grafting is done in the the field in very hot (30-40 degrees centigrade) conditions, often with drying easterly winds. My method to prevent grafted larvae drying out is, as each cell bar is grafted it is placed into an empty nucleus hive which has several layers of towelling in the bottom. This towelling is soaked with boiling water from my s/s Thermos flask when I start grafting, and then closed up. This keeps a warm HUMID atmosphere which is very important for larval survival. It is also vital to ensure that the frame of larvae being grafted is well fed so that the grafted larva is lying in a plentiful supply of royal jelly when it is lifted out. This is best done by feeding thin sugar syrup to the colony for a few days prior to grafting (assuming natural pollen supplies are also plentiful). Using this method I can usually achieve 90% graft survival under sometimes very difficult conditions.Prior to adopting this method my success rates in these conditions could be almost zero!

The second problem is ensuring that the cell builder colony is not stressed by the weather/nutritional conditions so that it can go about its job normally and happily. There are many different configurations for cell builders, but a common feature of all is being well supplied with young nurse bees, and food. No matter how good the floral conditions, keep up the supply of thin sugar syrup to them, and if necessary shade the hive from the full sun to prevent overheating.

Provided you pay full attention to the absolute basics of good queen cell rearing practice, hot weather should not lessen your success rates.

Peter Detchon
in Western Australia, where the season is getting started, floral prospects look good, and honey prices have crashed...again.

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