Methods of Queen Rearing by Larva Transfer and Key Management Points

(1) Tools for queen rearing by larva transfer The tools used for queen rearing by larva transfer include a larva transfer needle, a queen rearing frame, a wax bowl stick and wax bowls, a towel, a washbasin, royal jelly, etc. The larva transfer needle is a tool used to transfer young larvae into queen cell cups. It can be made from thick copper wire or a goose feather quill, with one end shaped into a flat, thin tongue and the other into a curved spoon shape. A larva transfer needle with a spring is convenient to use. The queen rearing frame is a frame for holding queen cells. It can be modified from a standard frame, with the top and bottom bars and side panels of equal width, about 13 mm. Inside the frame, 3 slats 10 mm wide are installed horizontally at equal distances. The wax bowl stick is a wooden stick for dipping wax bowls, 100 mm long. The end used for dipping wax bowls is very smooth and rounded, with a diameter of 8-9 mm at 10 mm from the end. The wax bowl is the queen cell base for rearing queens, made by dipping the wax bowl stick into melted beeswax. Soak the wax bowl stick in cold water for a period of time, take it out and shake off the water, insert it vertically into the melted wax to a depth of about 10 mm, take it out and pause briefly, and repeat dipping 2-3 times, each time a little shallower than the last. Then place it in cold water to cool, and remove it. The finished wax bowl has a thin rim and thick bottom, is smooth inside with no air bubbles, and plastic queen cell cups may also be used. Royal jelly can be obtained temporarily from natural queen cells, or collected in advance and stored in a refrigerator. When using, add an equal part of warm water to dilute the royal jelly.

(2) Larva transfer method Queen rearing by larva transfer can produce the required number of virgin queens with a consistent maturation period in a planned way. First, attach 2-3 layers of foundation strips to the slats of the queen rearing frame, or use melted wax to attach small triangular thin iron pieces at equal distances, and attach 7-10 wax bowls to them, for a total of 20-30 wax bowls across the 3 slats. Place it into the queen rearing colony and let @#@255@#@ clean it for 2-3 hours, then take it out, brush off the bees with a bee brush, place a drop of diluted royal jelly or honey into each wax bowl, and then larva transfer can be carried out. Larva transfer is carried out in a clean and bright room, with the room temperature kept at 25°C-30°C and relative humidity at 80%-90%. If the humidity is insufficient, water can be sprinkled on the floor. When the temperature is above 25°C and there are no robber bees, larva transfer can also be done in a shaded place outdoors. Take out one frame of young larva brood from the mother colony, brush off the bees, and take it for larva transfer. First place the slats with attached wax bowls side by side on a table, use a clean round-tipped thin glass rod or thin bamboo stick to place a rice-grain-sized amount of diluted royal jelly into the wax bowls cleaned by bees, and then transfer the larvae. For larva transfer, insert the needle from the back (convex side) of a young larva (one day old), with the tip of the needle close to the cell bottom, insert the needle tip between the larva and the cell bottom, lift the larva up, and place it onto the royal jelly in the wax bowl. Then gently withdraw the larva transfer needle from below. The larvae are very tender, so the larva transfer motion must be gentle, steady, and quick, and each larva may only be lifted once with the larva transfer needle. Cover the slat after larva transfer with a wet towel (to avoid lowering the temperature). Then transfer the second slat. Install the slats after larva transfer onto the queen rearing frame, place it in the queen rearing colony between the larva brood comb and the pollen comb, and after half a day to one day, take out the queen rearing frame, remove the accepted young larvae, and transfer in larvae within one day of age again. This is called double grafting. Double grafting can obtain more royal jelly, and queens reared by this method are of better quality and have a higher acceptance rate than those reared by single grafting.

(3) Management after larva transfer After adding the queen rearing frame with transferred larvae to the queen rearing colony, provide stimulating feeding continuously in the evening. Check after two days whether the larvae have been accepted. For accepted larvae, their queen cells are raised higher, the royal jelly in the cells increases, and the larvae float on the royal jelly; for unaccepted ones, their queen cells are bitten and damaged, and there are no larvae in the queen cells. If queen rearing is done with a queenless colony, at this time transfer the queen rearing frame to the super of a queenright queen rearing colony, and at the same time merge the queenless queen rearing colony with the original colony. If queen rearing is done with a queenright queen rearing colony, on the sixth day when the queen cells have already been sealed, check the condition of the sealed queen cells and eliminate small and crooked queen cells. Count the number of usable queen cells so as to organize the required number of mating colonies.