[elkridge]

Does anyone have a favorite specs for their grafting set up. I've never done this before and I'm just trying to get an idea of how careful I need to be when grafting. For example, there is a cool room in our cabin, and I am planning on running a humidifier when I graft (mid to late June) and I was planning on having a reading lamp over my head to help me see the tiny 12 hour old larva. Also the bee yard is a 1/4 mile up the mountain from our cabin. Am I going overboard with the humidifier? Will lamp light damage larva? Is a 1/4 mile walk with a frame of young larva too much? How much of a window do I have before I need to put the grafted cells in the cell finisher nuc?

 

[Michael Bush]

Cover the grafts with a wet towel. Work quickly. I'd worry more about good light, and no fan to dry them out. I do it at the kitchen table. I turn off the fan (if one is running) and do it quickly and take them back out quickly. I've done it in the front seat of the minivan in outyards...

 

[elkridge]

Cover the donor frame of larva with a wet towel as I graft or the cell bar, or both?

 

[LT]

Covering both works well for me. I cut strips of paper towels, wet them and warm them in the microwave and cover the cells on the bar as I go. A warm damp towel works best for taking to the yard.

 

[Velbert]

in most of my yards i have a 5 gallon bucket to sit on when needed i have just used a hive that is just the wright height for my table and grafted about daylight in the yard ( the moisture is higher in the morning, i use the jzbz wide base cell cups and i will gently press the cell cups at the base of the frame of larva 8/10 put in my royal jelly then graft then pull them off and place in a dampened blue shop towel until i have all the grafts needed then place on cell bar and place in the frame and place in the cell builder. i also use a pocket led light this works great you can move the light so you can see the tiniest larva lot better than a over head light.

 

[Joseph Clemens]

I open up the queen cell builder colony, make sure it is stocked and ready to receive grafts, and that there is an opening to receive the cell bar. Then I open the donor colony, select a frame to graft from, I have a super sitting on end in front of my plastic yard chair, I prime the cups, then graft. As soon as the grafts are ready (about three to five minutes later), I place them in the cell builder, close it up. Return the donor frame, close the donor hive -- all done.

This plastic chair under a Mesquite tree in my front yard is my grafting room and an empty super setting on end is my grafting table.

 

[fish_stix]

Like MB I've used my truck cab numerous times and also the tailgate. As long as you work fast and stay in the shade you're good to go without a fancy setup. Grafting rooms are for beeks that are grafting hundreds or thousands of cells daily; nice to have, but not really a requirement. Damp towels work great for humidity control.

 

[elkridge]

Thanks for all your advice!

 

[Michael Bush]

I get the donor frame from the yard and go straight into the kitchen and graft, so I don't have time to put a towel on them, but if I was interrupted and had to deal with something, yes, I'd cover the donor frame with a towel also. The box I'm putting the cell frames in is covered with a wet towel both to keep drying air out and get moisture in. Like everyone said, if you are doing thousands it becomes an issue. if you are doing a hundred or two it's more about speed.