Regular reader and commenter Joan asked what I used to punch the grafts.
It's a bit of 12mm steel tube (that's half and inch if you live in a backward country), sharpened with a file.
And a pencil for pushing the graft through.
I will of course, blog on the success (or otherwise) of this first attempt at punch grafting.
I am concerned about two things: the first is the strength of the colony and their nectar flow. It's a hive that swarmed and the new queen failed to materialise. You need a strong colony to raise queens. The second is the age of the larvae. I'm not sure what a three-day-old larva looks like, so I chose the smallest I could see.
I'll check the "finishing colony" in eight days time and report back.
It's a bit of 12mm steel tube (that's half and inch if you live in a backward country), sharpened with a file.
And a pencil for pushing the graft through.
I am concerned about two things: the first is the strength of the colony and their nectar flow. It's a hive that swarmed and the new queen failed to materialise. You need a strong colony to raise queens. The second is the age of the larvae. I'm not sure what a three-day-old larva looks like, so I chose the smallest I could see.
I'll check the "finishing colony" in eight days time and report back.
Posts
Interesting procedure. I'll be watching for the results as well. I wish you luck!
ReplyDeleteComplete failure. The colony built comb all over the cells I had grafted on the frame. And then I noticed that a queen had been laying in the comb they had made! Where did she come from?! So the colony wasn't queenless after all.
ReplyDeleteSo much for that experiment. But I will try again next year.