brown cell cups

[avalonweddingsbcs]

brown cell cups,,,


do you throw em away after one use or can u clean the wax out of them somehow or ?

d

[jonathan]

Which ones do you mean?

I use these ones and the little inserts are disposable.

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/at...128634&thumb=1

http://www.sbai.org.uk/sbai_forum/at...896025&thumb=1

[avalonweddingsbcs]

yeah.. those.. just didnt have a lot and dont order often...

[jonathan]

I'm in N Ireland (UK) so can't give you an exact price in Dollars but I pay the equivalent of about 6 Dollars for 100.
You can clean them by leaving them in hot water and then scraping out the remnants of cocoons one by one but you will lose a couple of hours of your life in the process.

[Michael Bush]

I just rip the cells off and reuse them...
I used to swish them through boiling water (too long and they warp and shrivel) but I gave that up.

[jonathan]

Do you put them in a hive first for a day or so to get the remnants cleaned out first before grafting into them?

[AstroBee]

I just rip the cells off and reuse them...
I used to swish them through boiling water (too long and they warp and shrivel) but I gave that up.

Yeah, I learned that the hard way! I threw about 40 Jenter cups into boiling water and within seconds they were wasted.

[Michael Bush]

>Do you put them in a hive first for a day or so to get the remnants cleaned out first before grafting into them?

I just use them.

>Yeah, I learned that the hard way! I threw about 40 Jenter cups into boiling water and within seconds they were wasted.

I made a little basket out of #8 hardware cloth with a wire handle to swish them quickly through the water... that worked much better.

[jonathan]

Hi Michael.
Do you mean you graft into the cup even with bits of cocoon from the previous pupa still in it?

Any time I cleaned a few of these I soaked them in hot (not boiling) water for a while and then scraped out the debris with a cotton bud when it was softened.

[Velbert]

Soak in Alcohol for a few days then use a cotton swab

[Michael Bush]

>Do you mean you graft into the cup even with bits of cocoon from the previous pupa still in it?

It seems like when I grab the cell and give it a twist and a pull, the cocoon comes out with the rest. If there are small bits of anything, I don't worry about it, but I don't think there is much.