Author Topic: I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.  (Read 3356 times)

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Offline capt44

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I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.
« on: February 23, 2016, 10:57:59 am »
The weather here this winter has been very mild.
Sure we've had a few days of cold but it's moderating up fast.
These next 2 or 3 days are suppose to be the last cold nights for a month or so.
The hives have a lot of capped brood and a few drones walking around.
I'll start grafting in a couple of weeks.
I will be grafting Italians and the Hygenic Queens this year.
I will start with around 400 mating Nucs.
Looks like a mild March this year.
Capt44

Offline Lburou

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Re: I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.
« Reply #1 on: February 23, 2016, 11:11:45 am »
I hope you are right about the weather Capt!  Looking forward to hearing about your progress this year.

I have had a nectarine tree blooming for two weeks now.  Hoping there is no late killing frost. Haven't seen drones for 6 weeks. I will start grafting soon as well (for my own entertainment and use).  :-)
Lee_Burough

Offline rcannon

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Re: I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.
« Reply #2 on: February 23, 2016, 09:10:32 pm »
It's getting close to grafting time here, too. I'm seeing a few drones and a friend of mine has already had a swarm move into one of his traps.

Offline Bee Commander

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Re: I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.
« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2016, 09:08:46 am »
I think we're two weeks early hear as well. I started seeing drone brood two weeks ago. I'm thinking about getting started with grafting next week. Hard to decide when to start!

Offline apisbees

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Re: I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.
« Reply #4 on: February 25, 2016, 10:18:40 am »
I would suggest that you graft another set of cells in 7 days and if the weather has not been warm calm enough to be assured a good mating, cull the queens out of the nucs and put in new cells. If you are not positive of a good mating it is better to be 7 days later than send out a poor mated queens. If it looks like the queens mated well sell queen cells or cull them.
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Offline tecumseh

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Re: I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2016, 06:27:55 am »
I will cage my first set of cells today.  Hopefully the short cold snap has not destroyed the cells but I will cage just to make certain.  I will likely begin round two beginning this weekend.

Offline Chip Euliss

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Re: I will start grafting Queens in a couple of weeks.
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2016, 05:58:09 pm »
I will cage my first set of cells today.  Hopefully the short cold snap has not destroyed the cells but I will cage just to make certain.  I will likely begin round two beginning this weekend.

I have a friend in east Texas that produces cells for commercial beekeepers but he only uses cages in fall when the hives are strong and the bees more likely to tear down the cells.  You must be using them to requeen very strong hives?  Now that I've retired, I would like to try my hand at making cells to replace queens later in summer to improve wintering and get the genetics a little better matched to my management style.
Chip