Grafting is the process of transferring young larvae from worker cells into special cups used for raising queens. Larvae used for grafting are selected from the offspring of a “breeder” queen, that is, a queen whose genetics appeal to the beekeeper. Larvae used for grafting must be between 12 and 24 hours old. These larvae […] Read more
I just found this fantastic photograph of a queen cup and I wanted to share it with you. These cups are built by the bees on the surface of the comb. The bees select a regular cell as a base and then enlarge it. If the queen lays an egg in one of these cups […] Read more
During spring build-up, beekeepers often search for swarm cells in order to determine if the hive is preparing to swarm. But what is a swarm cell and how is it different from a supersedure cell? First of all, the term “cell” usually refers to an oversize structure attached to the comb in which a queen […] Read more