Queen Cell Grafting

Apologies for the lack of photos in this post - my hands were too occupied to even think about taking photos, as you'll see...

I mentioned in my last post that there were three queen cells in hive number 2, and that I would like to reduce this down to one.  This would prevent the risk of the bees producing a "cast swarm" where one of the queens leaves with half the bees, while another stays and takes over the hive.  I don't think the colony is strong enough to swarm - and, anyway, I don't want to lose half my bees!

I was mulling this over when an email came through from Bath Beekeeping Society.  Jessica, a fellow beekeeper who has hives at the bottom of Lyncome Hill, has a queenless hive, and was looking for anyone who has a spare queen.  I called to say that I have spare queen cells, and would she like to try grafting them into her hive?  Yes, she would.

This is a technique that I've successfully used twice before.  I'll describe what Jessica and I did when we met up yesterday morning at my hives:

Firstly we opened up hive number two - without using smoke, as I want to disturb the bees as little as possible.  Next, while Jessica held the frame with the three queen cells, I used a sharp kitchen knife to cut out a 4-inch square of comb around two of the queen cells (keeping the third one on the frame, as she will become my new queen).  I had to do this with the bees on the comb, as shaking them off would damage the queens, so it's delicate work.  Then, I carefully removed the comb, and Jessica closed up the hive.  All in all, we probably only had the hive open for 5 minutes.

Next, Jessica went to get the key to the graveyard where she keeps the hives, and I headed directly there.  It's a short walk along St Mark's Road, then across the road to wait by the gate for Jessica.  I tried to cup the comb in my hands, to provide a little warmth for the queens, as they might not survive if they get too cold.

Once we were through the gate, Jessica smoked her bees (apparently this colony can be a bit feisty if not smoked!)  Then, she pulled out a frame from the middle of the hive, shook the bees off (there are no larvae to damage so it was fine to give the frame a good shake), and used a goose feather to brush off the remaining bees.  While she was doing this, I looped two lengths of thin wire through two small holes in the top corners of the square of wax holding the queen cells. I noticed that, unfortunately, one of the queen cells was open at the bottom - but not the way a queen cell would look if the queen had emerged.  Rather, it looked like the workers had decided to kill her, and had opened the cell and pulled her out while she was pupating.  Nevertheless, we still had one cell to work with.

Jessica then cut a 4-inch square of comb out of her frame, and I inserted the comb with the remaining queen cell, looping the wires over the top of the frame and twisting them together to hold the comb in place.

And we're done!  Jessica put the frame back, and closed up the hive.  Hopefully, in a few days the new queen will emerge and get Jessica's hive back on track.