Becoming a sustainable beekeeper means delving into the intricate world of apiary management. One crucial aspect of this journey is rearing your own queens. While it may sound daunting, raising queens is not as challenging as it appears. In fact, your honeybee colonies are genetically equipped to rear queens. Today, we’re going to focus on the art of grafting queen cells using the Doolittle Method—a fascinating process that requires practice, precision, and a strict schedule.

The Essentials: Equipment and Preparation

Before diving into the grafting process, you’ll need to assemble the essential equipment. Here’s a checklist to get you started:

1. Grafting tool (we recommend a Chinese grafting tool).

2. Grafting bar frame.

3. Grafting bar.

4. Queen cups.

5. Damp cloths.

6. A warm space with a temperature range of 30-32°C (86-89.6°F).

7. Quality lighting.

8. Reading glasses for better visibility.

Additionally, you’ll require a queenless hive or a shook swarm devoid of open brood to place the grafts. If you’re unsure how to create a shook swarm, revisit our guide on preparing one.

Tricks for Success

To increase your chances of success, consider these four essential tricks:

1. Priming the Queen Cups: The day before grafting, introduce your grafting bars with queen cups to your queenless starter or shook swarm. This encourages the bees to clean and coat the cups with a thin layer of wax in preparation for queen production. Remove these bars on grafting day, perform the grafting, and return them to the queenless starter or shook swarm.

2. Timing is Everything: Grafting should be done with worker larvae that are no older than four days. This ensures that you’re working with larvae that are the ideal age for queen rearing. To secure the right age of brood, mark an empty frame as your grafting frame and introduce it into the heart of the brood nest five days before grafting.

3. Royal Jelly Richness: Queen cells develop best when larvae are floating in an abundant supply of royal jelly. To achieve this, feed your colonies generously with syrup and pollen substitutes weeks before grafting. Well-fed colonies are better equipped to produce ample royal jelly, which facilitates the grafting process.

4. Maintain Optimal Conditions: Larvae are susceptible to dehydration and chilling, so it’s vital to keep the grafting brood frame and the grafting bar frame warm and moist throughout the process. Use damp, warm cloths or a heated space to maintain ideal conditions. A flawless grafting technique can be wasted if the environment damages the larvae.

Grafting Techniques

Grafting largely relies on feel, but proper lighting and workspace are crucial for maneuvering your grafting tool effectively. Keep your grafting tool slightly damp (not wet) to aid in moving royal jelly and larvae on and off the tool.

Here’s a proven grafting technique:

1. Slide the grafting tool down the side of the brood cell, allowing it to slip beneath the royal jelly, suspending the larvae above it. The goal is to avoid direct contact with the larvae.

If you struggle to see the larvae clearly, use a headlamp and reading glasses for improved visibility and magnification. Always keep a damp cloth on hand to cover completed grafts on the grafting bar frame and the frame you’re grafting from to prevent drying out.

Your Grafting Schedule

Effective queen rearing requires careful scheduling. The entire queen rearing cycle takes 16 days, culminating in the emergence of a virgin queen. To follow our tips and tricks, consider the following timeline:

Day -1: Provide your breeder colony with empty comb in the brood nest heart. This frame will contain appropriately aged brood for grafting five days after installation.

Day 3: Create your shook swarm and place your grafting bars and cups within it to prime them for grafting.

Day 4: This is the day you come prepared to graft your queens.

Conclusion

 Grafting queens using the Doolittle Method might seem challenging initially, but it’s a skill that can be mastered with practice, patience, and attention to detail. Collect your equipment, learn to identify the right age of larvae, maintain ideal conditions, and refine your grafting technique. Remember, it’s not as difficult as it may seem, and we’re here to support your learning journey.