On Tue, 14 May 1996, James D. Satterfield wrote: > Adam, Joel, Roy, Kevin, Nik, and others who have been following the thread > on priming queen cell cups for grafting larvae: > > I didn't use the same cell-building colony that I had been using. That seems to be fine, > I am using queenless, free-flying colonies to build the cells. If I > supply a frame of emerging brood I seem to get good building. Yes Jim, we really need enough populations of *nursing bee* to be sure of good acceptance. > > The colony I tried to get to build the saliva-primed cells appeared to be > queenless...no brood. I looked through the hive, but I saw no queen nor > brood. The hive is a strong colony, is bringing in honey like mad. > Perhaps the queen was just taking a rest? :) Anyhow, I'm going to try > using saliva one more time, using a 000 brush for transferring larvae, > then putting the frame into the hive that I know is queenless and has > been giving me a good build. I'll file a report on my results in a few days. > Using a colony that has given you a good building record will not ensure you with the same success. By then the particular colony might be exausted of nurse bee population. > > I thank all of you who have sent me suggestions and given me help of any > type. It is a pleasure to be associated with all of you. > > Cordially yours, > > Jim > Good luck, Nik Mohamed [log in to unmask]