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Grafting Time Table
for Apis Mellifera Mellifera, Ligustica, Carnica and
Caucasica Species of bees
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- Day -6
- Put the cell plug box frame into the queen mother colony to be
cleaned and to acquire the scent. This also means that all the plastic
parts will be at the correct temperature when the queen is confined.
- Day -5
- Find the queen mother and place her in the cell plug box.
- Day -1
- Place grafting frame (or cell bar fixtures of cell plug box system)
in colony whose queen's larvae will be used so that they will be
cleaned by bees and acquire the 'right' scent and temperature.
- Day Zero
- Grafting Day... Put the grafted frames in the
starter colonies. Or
if using a cell plug box, you will need to take out the plugs and fit
them into the cell bar fixtures before transferring these to the
starter colonies. If
repeat batches are to be made then tomorrows grafting frames can be
placed in the queen mother colony.
- Day +1
- Transfer cell frames from
starter colonies
to
finishing colonies.
Graft another batch and start a second timetable. This cannot be done
with the cell plug boxes unless an extra box was introduced to
another queen mother colony on Day -5, with confinement on Day -4
- Day +2
- Feed finishing colonies fresh honey and pollen.
- Day +3
- Feed finishing colonies fresh honey and pollen.
- Day +4
- Feed finishing colonies fresh honey and pollen.
- Day +5
- Feed finishing colonies fresh honey and pollen.
- Day +6
- No action required, but cells will be sealed at some time during this day.
- Day +8
- Populate mating nucs if not already established and keep closed in a cool place.
- Day +9
- Set out the mating nucs late in the evening.
- Day +10
- Put queen cells, fitted with cell protectors, in nucs.
- Day +11
- Early emergence if temperature is unduly high or the larvae were
older than they should have been.
- Day +12
- The thirteenth day, normal emergence should happen, but precise
timing is not possible as it is unknown what time of day the
original eggs were laid.
- Day +??
- It is not possible to be exact as to when a virgin becomes fully
fertile, but is usually within 6 days of emergence.
- Day +??
- Mating is always a variable time, being dependant on weather, but
if it has not happened within 14 days of emergence then a deterioration
process sets in and any mating that does take place may be less than perfect.
- Day +37
- At some point the virgin becomes un-mateable, but it is impossible
to be certain when. However if no eggs are seen in the mating nuc by
this time... Kill the queen, refresh the nuc with some young bees and start again.
If positive action is to be taken to secure adequate numbers
of fertile drones... Insert drawn drone combs in suitable drone mother colonies on Day -24.
Simply because days are 24 hours long it is impossible to be
totally accurate. Judgment of larva age for grafting by eye is
subjective. It is not possible to know at what hour of the day the
queen mother will start lay in a cell plug box or indeed how long it
takes for her to fill it. If more precision is required, you must
take the risk of inspecting the cell plug box for eggs every three
hours.
Written... Autumn 2000,
Modified... 19 June 2002,
Revised... 20 January 2003,
Upgraded... 11 April 2006,
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