When grafting into queen starting cells, do you have trouble lifting the larvae out of the worker cells? Does the grafting tool tongue too often cut into the soft wax of the cell wall or floor? Is the grafting operation so slow that larvae start drying out before the bar of cells is fully loaded?
The grafting operation can be made easier and, importantly, faster by using frames of larvae on plastic foundation. Access to, and illumination of, the larvae can be greatly improved by removing the wax walls of the selected larvae cells with a hive tool, leaving the larvae floating in the plastic base of the cells. This is possible because of the depth of cell impressions in plastic foundation.
The result – a bar of cells can be loaded in half the time and returned to the starter colony before dehydration of the larvae becomes a problem.
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