Latshaw Apiaries 

The quality of queens raised starts from the the moment the beekeeper steps into the picture.  Therefore, there are some basic suggestions and observations the beekeeper can utilize to insure the highest quality queens or a least determine the level of quality generated by his or her current system.

The type of grafting tool will influence the grafting procedure.  Below, the picture on the left shows the tip of a Chinese grafting tool and on the right is the tip of a handmade grafting tool I use.  While the pictures are not to scale, the tip of the handmade grating tool is much smaller than the tip of the Chinese grafting tool.  For this reason, I am able to graft younger larvae using the handmade tool.  The age of the larvae influences the development of the queen and the use of younger aged larvae has been shown to influence the number of ovarioles in the queen.  However, there is a cost and a benefit to larval grafting age.  I have a higher acceptance rate when using slightly older larvae for grafting than when using newly hatched larvae (less than approximately 10 hours old).  My explanation for this is simply my grafting skills and technique.  The younger larvae are much more delicate and therefore, more susceptible to damage during the grafting process.

As mentioned above, age of the larvae at grafting time is important.  I prefer to graft larvae less than 24 hours old.  The picture below shows the relative size of such a larva when compared with an egg.  Size of the larvae can be a poor indicator of age, especially in the spring.  Often times the colony is in the process of expanding the brood nest and larvae on the outer edge of the brood nest appear to be the right age based on size, but may in fact be older than they appear.  Sometimes the larvae on the perimeter of the brood nest are slightly neglected, especially if the colony is under stress caused by a sudden change in temperature or resources.  Therefore, I prefer to use a nice solid frame of young larvae from the center of the brood nest, perhaps one from an empty frame I inserted, a week or so before.

In order to graft such young larvae I prefer to "prime" the cell cup to make the transfer of the young larvae easier as shown above.  The royal jelly I use to prime the cell is actually diluted royal jelly, which the bees will remove shortly after I return the newly grafted cells to the colony.  The royal used for priming the cell also helps to prevent the larvae from becoming dehydrated during the grafting process.

After all the work and effort has been put into raising the cells, how can one determine the quality of the cells produced?  My approach is to judge the quality of the cell primarily by what is on the inside rather than the general size of the cell.  Developing queens are generally fed an excess of royal jelly and are nearly finished feeding by the time the cells are sealed.  If using plastic queen cells it is very easy to judge the amount of "extra" royal jelly in the cells just after they are sealed.  In the picture below, the newly sealed queen cell has plenty of "extra" royal jelly.  This is generally a good indicator of the quality of the queen cells since the difference between a queen a worker is heavily influenced by diet.  The outwardly appearance also provides some insight into the quality of the cells produced.  During the spring with a mild nectar flow and abundance of nurse bees, the cells will appear very light in color and have some texturing on the surface of the cell.

Note the base of the queen cell is filled with royal jelly

after the cell has been sealed by the nurse bees.        

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Last modified: 02/29/08

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