Grafting
Lexikon
Grafting in queen rearing refers to the targeted transfer of very young bee larvae from normal worker cells into artificial queen cups.
Grafting in queen rearing refers to the targeted transfer of very young bee larvae from normal worker cells into artificial queen cups. Because a larva can only still develop into a queen in the first days of life if it is fed royal jelly continuously, this technique enables the beekeeper to have offspring of selected breeder colonies raised as queens in a targeted way, instead of waiting for chance emergency queen rearing.
The age of the larvae used is decisive for success: according to the Bavarian Bee Competence Center, the larvae taken must be no more than one and a half days old so that a full-value queen can still develop from them. With a fine grafting tool or a marten hair brush, the larva is carefully lifted out of the cell from its rounded side and placed in the prepared queen cup without turning or injuring it.
In practice, grafting above all requires practice and a calm environment; many beekeepers use an illuminated magnifying glass to be able to see the tiny larvae reliably at all. A common beginner's mistake is using larvae that are too old, which at first glance hardly seem any bigger but are already on their way to becoming workers and then no longer produce a full-value queen despite being transferred.