Beesource Beekeeping Forums banner

Long Drive Home with Grafts

3K views 9 replies 6 participants last post by  BeeHiveGuy 
#1 ·
I am going to a Queen Rearing class in two months. I will produce grafts on Thursday. I drive home on Saturday (9+ hours). How do I keep the grafts alive? I was thinking of setting up a queenless Nuc or Mini Nuc when I arrive on Monday, inserting the grafts on Thursday, and bring that home.

If the above works or you have a better idea, what is the action that I take when I get home? Leave them in the Nuc or Mini Nuc? Other action?
 
#2 ·
I think setting up a 4 frame mini nuc will do. Be sure to get the newly emerged nurse bees with some sealed broods and not the foragers.
Keep them ventilated and feed syrup and patty inside the nuc. Don't let them out that you don't want them to fly around because
you have to take them home afterward. Better test the nuc to ensure everything is 100% normal before going there.
I'm not sure where you will put the nuc though while you're in the class.
Once you're home put the graft in a strong nuc hive to grow the queen cells.
If you have the option then bring a 2 frame newly emerged nurse bees in standard nuc to allow better take on the graft.
More bees will feed your grafted cells better.
 
#6 ·
You should have no problems if the grafts are placed in a cell builder with plenty of bees, food (carbs and protein), and ventilation (if there are plenty of bees, you won't have too much ventilation).
Don't think of this as a way to move the grafts, think of it as you cell builder.

If the goal is to be able to raise some queens from the stock of whomever is giving the class, eggs are a bit more hardy than larvae, and maybe you can bring a chunk of comb with fresh eggs home (in an incubator or with some bees), and graft from them when they "hatch" a few days later, after you are home.

deknow
 
#7 ·
The class is Long Lane Honey Bee Farms' Class http://www.honeybeesonline.com/classes.html with David Burns

It is the class offered from 17-21 June. Grafting is on Thursday. I drive home on Saturday.

It is a 5 day class covering all aspects of bee keeping (Beginner through Advanced, Grafting (Queen Rearing), and Photography) for $399.

This class becomes well worth the cost if I can bring back new genetics. Our club has ordered a lot of bees from a single source. I want to do queens and need diversity from 1) What I have, 2) This class, 3) Queens I pick up elsewhere.
 
#9 ·
Daves a good guy, stop by and say hello on your way home!...... If I were you the smart thing to do is just buy one of his queens and take it home. That will work out better for you than trying to get a graft to survive and take. You would need to have a cell builder ready when you got home anyway... and it sounds like you won't have that ready. Spend 30.00 and get a queen.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top