Priming Cells

**Beagler** · 05-01-2011, 05:59 PM

What can be used to prime cells before placing larvae inside in the place of royal jelly?

**AmericasBeekeeper** · 05-01-2011, 06:02 PM

plain yogurt

**Beagler** · 05-01-2011, 06:07 PM

Any plain yogurt? How much?

**AmericasBeekeeper** · 05-01-2011, 06:14 PM

The bees are going to change it out so just enough to float the larva.

**fish_stix** · 05-01-2011, 07:32 PM

I use Publix brand plain yogurt sometimes. Not plugging Publix but I like theirs the best when I eat what's left in the cup! A little tiny dab is all you need to float the larva off the grafting needle and I just use my needle to transfer the yogurt to the cell cups; check some newly hatched larva and you'll see that they're floating in a tiny puddle of Royal Jelly. If you can get some of that RJ on your grafting needle along with the larva there's no need for priming the cells.

**Michael Bush** · 05-01-2011, 11:38 PM

I used to use royal jelly. Now I use nothing. Nothing works better.

**frazzledfozzle** · 05-02-2011, 01:13 AM

I'm with Michael, nothing works best.
I also find if I prime my cups with royal jelly I keep forgetting which one I'm up too because the lavae are so small it's very difficult to see them once they are on the jelly so I was either doubling up or missing cells completely

**rrussell6870** · 05-02-2011, 01:54 AM

We usually dry graft, but at times the heat or wind can cause drying if we have a lot of cells to graft... we use enclosed trailers in the yards to graft in, but it is not always that big of a help... during these times we use pure royal jelly added to each cell with one of our syringes or mixed with a tiny bit of tap water and added by swabbing each cell cup with a q-tip. This is just to keep the larvae moist in tough conditions, and I agree with MB and Frazz, they all come out the same... The nurse bees will completely remove anything that you put in the cell and then start feeding the larvae fresh jelly... so you need to use as little a possible...

**Whitetail** · 05-06-2011, 09:00 AM

I was surprised at my test results. On the same frame of grafts I had better acceptance dry grafting vs priming with fresh royal jelly. I was even more surprised that the bees liked the JZBZ plastic cups better than wax. These fascinating creatures keep me in research mode.

Maybe after a couple decades I'll have a firm grasp on them! Lol!

**Kingfisher Apiaries** · 05-06-2011, 09:32 AM

Since its so hot here i have had to reevaluate dry grafting..the larvae just plain dry out too fast. So heres what I do-
I run the cell bars under the kitchen faucet about 15 minutes before the graft. I shake all the water out so there is just a film on everything. Then I go and get the stock, and graft in. FIW the Baton Rouge bee lab uses water to prime.
mike