Nicot no graft system

[apisbees]

Keep us informed I am interested in how it works for you.

[rodmaker]

   Okay i went and checked the grid and definitely saw eggs so to be sure i took the frame to the shop and used my lighted magnifying glass there are eggs so the countdown starts again. will set up cloake board monday and move the larva on tuesday. I will learn how to raise queens yet. just need something i am sorely lacking and that is patience.

[apisbees]

We'll bees are good at teaching you that.

[rodmaker]

  Went to move larva to starter and the girls had beat me to it they moved all eggs out of the grid . Will start all over next week. They are teaching me to be patient. And frustrating me at the same time.

[rodmaker]

   Well after the last try the bees moved the eggs this is probably what happened the first time when i saw eggs in the grid. So i removed the cloake board after some moves to reorient the girls and placed the grid back in the donor hive to try again. Will place the queen on grid today. This is the mann lake system and i am having no luck so far. Patience!

[rodmaker]

  Eggs in grid they say third times a charm, hope the girls leave them in place this time. the countdown starts again.

[rodmaker]

 Well the girls did it again they removed all eggs from the grid so i put a frame of jz-bz cups in and will try my hand at grafting . I will try the grid system with another hive at a later date. So far i am not impressed with the mann lake no graft system. This is a survivor hive and has not been treated for varroa for six years that i know of that is why i want these genetics and they are also very easy to work.

[apisbees]

On the Jenter system I have had to keep the queen in the frame till the larva were ready to move to the cell builder. but with this system the queen can lay every cell so it is about 500 cells the queen can lay. You could try removing the cells and place the cups with eggs in the bars in the  queenless cell builders. the bees may hold onto them because they are queenless. 

[rodmaker]

  Thank you Apis i might give this a try. I just did not want to lose all the production by having the queen caged for too long but they are starting to slow down now anyway do to drought. Thank you for your help.

[apisbees]

I totally understand you frustration. I had some of the same issues you have faced but I was 23 at the time with good eye site and steady hands. So I scraped using the system as designed and grafted directly into the cells. back in 1982 there were not all the plastic queen stuff around JZ-BZ was just starting to produce but it wasn't widely available. Most beekeepers were still making wax queen cups.

[rodmaker]

   Eggs again on grid today i will leave the queen trapped on grid until larva and then release when larva are moved to starter hive. I am stubborn and i will not give up until i find a way to wise my own queens. After this attempt i will try another one of my good queens if not successful this time.

[rodmaker]

 Let queen off grid. The eggs had not hatched should of been larva.  I set up the starter yesterday so i placed ten eggs that had layed over into starter.. They should hatch tomorrow or maybe already did as i did this early before heat set in 106 today 85 when i moved eggs at 8:30 this mourning will check tomorrow to see whats happening .

[rodmaker]

  Well i checked and the girls are on eight of ten cells so just maybe i will get a queen yet. Will move to finisher stage tomorrow.

[LazyBkpr]

Yeehaa!    Crossing my fingers!

[rodmaker]

   Well i just got back from moving queens to finisher hive good news and bad . Good news id they are raising eight queens. Bad news is they moved all eight out of the cups down to wired wax foundation they are separated so i will still be able to use most just not what i wanted. I started this mann lake no graft system on June 28th and now it is July 28th so i am going to look at different ways of raising queens from this hive they keep moving everything out of the cups. This is a very hygienic hive and i do not treat this for mites that is why i am trying so hard. I will try this with another queen at a latter date. This hive i will try to graft from if i am unsuccessful with these queen cells and they don't make it back from mating flights. Maybe better luck next time. I am just as stubborn as the bees i will not quit!

[LazyBkpr]

Can you try putting those queens in a different queenless hive? Maybe they will be less interested in moving them out and raising what is provided?   Just a thought...

[rodmaker]

  Ive tried different things with this queen after i see how many i can get mated successfully then i will try my bad eyes and shaky hands to see if i can graft. At this time i have no queen less hives i am trying to spread this mite resistant strain. I have done sugar shake on these and never found one mite in three years.I am new to raising queens and tired of buying them. I have been very successful with ots queens but am trying for a better quality queen. I am interested in the cell punch just not sure how to go about it .

[LazyBkpr]

   My page on how I raise the queens;
 
   http://outyard.weebly.com/queens.html

   This year I managed about 8 of 15 and 7 of 10 in two different attempts cell punching.   OTS I managed another 6 cells I cut out and used.   Next year I am going to attempt a larger queenless hive and or try a finisher.  Needing 6 to 10 cells my methods have worked well, but I am reaching the point I need more.  I think a larger starter will start more cells than the 7 or 8 I managed this year.  Not convinced about the queen right finisher yet..

[rodmaker]

  Well i have three new queens all in roller cages. They hatched one day early and I'm glad i installed the roller cages when i did. I have mating castle set up today and will place queens tomorrow. three out of twelve on first attempt and not the way i intended must of done something wrong . After these are mated i will try again.