> Hello, > > Would anyone know if there is a book descibing Quenn Rearing with > the Jentner (sp.?) System? Also does anyone have any strong > feelings one way or another about the system itself or it potential > use by a novice at queen rearing? Any good book on queen rearing will provide the understanding of the basic principles of queen rearing. They are the same regardless of what method you use to transfer larvae. It is very important to understand *all* the principles if you expect to get queens at all, let alone good ones. My wife had trouble getting the system to work consistently, although she has had no difficulty producing thousands of excellent cells and queens by grafting. I couldn't understand it, so tried myself and found that it was difficult to use compared to just selecting a frame with young larvae and grafting. For one thing, we had trouble getting the queen to lay in it (maybe it was just a poor day), and didn't stick to it. (There are days when queens just don't lay - we had an expensive marked breeder that just stopped laying for a week or two when all the others were laying fine - as Pooh says:"You just can't tell about bees". - Then she started up again.) Having said that, I know people who swear by it and wouldn't be without it. I don't really know why it didn't work well for us except that we already knew much simpler and easier methods of doing the job. Normal grafting is not hard at all if you take an hour or two to learn. However the system of plugs might be good if your vision is bad and your fingers very stiff. If you want to learn to graft, your local bee club or government bee people may well offer courses where you can learn the subtle little things that make the job go better. Or you can learn from a book. Good luck Regards Allen W. Allen Dick, Beekeeper VE6CFK RR#1, Swalwell, Alberta Canada T0M 1Y0 Internet:[log in to unmask] Honey. Bees, Art, & Futures <http://www.cuug.ab.ca:8001/~dicka>