[aphotographofme]

This is my second try, and it's not going so well. Aside from the awful take rate, the bees are building up comb over/around the queen cells that do take. Are these cells viable? How do I avoid this issue? I have been limiting sugar syrup to 1 cup / day. Thanks

 

[perrywinkle]

https://youtu.be/nLLVj7nXMIw?list=PLbahx4WxwRgrDTg7ksIiHmkIbLz9FAIQl

 

[Jack Grimshaw]

I had the same results when I first started grafting so your first picture was a dead giveaway.
Your grafting frame is too wide,giving the bees too much empty space on the sides.
Run it through a table saw to trim down the sides to the width of the top bar or make a new frame about 1 in wide.Picture a Q cell with a "bee space" on either side to the adjacent comb.
If you are on a flow you don't need to feed if you have plenty of open cells with nectar and pollen in the cell starter.It also may help if you include a frame of foundation a few frames over from the grafts so the wax builders have something to do.

 

[crofter]

I had the same results when I first started grafting so your first picture was a dead giveaway.
Your grafting frame is too wide,giving the bees too much empty space on the sides.
Run it through a table saw to trim down the sides to the width of the top bar or make a new frame about 1 in wide.Picture a Q cell with a "bee space" on either side to the adjacent comb.
If you are on a flow you don't need to feed if you have plenty of open cells with nectar and pollen in the cell starter.It also may help if you include a frame of foundation a few frames over from the grafts so the wax builders have something to do.

Thanks Jack;

Good thinking :thumbsup: I will be cutting down my cell starter frame or making a skinnier one from scratch. From the OP's pics those look like drone cells. Having some other place in the hive for drone construction should help too.

 

[Steve in PA]

I had that happen for 1 batch last year out of all the batches I did. I assumed it had more to do with having a strong flow, like was mentioned in the video, than anything.

 

[aphotographofme]

Thank you for this advice! I knew there had to be a catch when I decided to use a regular frame instead of buying a fancy dancy queen rearing frame .

Thanks to all for their thoughts.