Thinner is better.
I’ve used a standard 1 3/8″ frame for a grafting frame. The cell bars were wide and would carry two staggered rows of cells. They incorporated a section of comb above the cell bars.
This year, I’ve done a little experimenting with a thin grafting frame and bar. The frame is home made and is about 3/4″ wide which is slightly wider than a queen cell with a bee space on each side. It’s a simple frame.
I like the results I get when using this frame. Bee density is easier to maintain. And the bees have an easier time controlling the environment in that narrower space. Cells toward the ends of this bar are as high a quality as cells toward the middle.
It appears, the bees find and tend the cells faster. So far, the acceptance rate on my grafting with these bars is 99%-100%. I normally run about 90%.
This thin frame consists of a top bar 3/4″ x 5/8″ x 19″. The End Bars are made from the same stock as the top bar. They have a dado cut out of each side to hold the cell bars. These frames don’t have a bottom bar.
The cell bars are made from the same stock as the top bar and sides. They have a single saw kerf down the middle to accommodate my JZBZ plastic cups. A little beeswax in the dado adds enough “stick” to keep the bars from sliding out when the frames are handled.
Two frames are used in place of one standard sized grafting frame. This spreads out the cells providing a closer match to natural comb rearing densities.
As a side note, I coat my plastic cups with a thin beeswax coating. And I do the same with all new grafting frames and bars prior to their first use.
Replacements
In nature, a bee colony doesn’t live forever. Even if they get established in a good location, a colony will only live about 3 to 5 years. Then their cavity and comb is scavenged. Defects or diseases are cleaned out by natural processes. And another swarm will move in.
Natural colonies are relatively disease free. Colonies fail when the queen looses vitality or dies and isn’t replaced.
A beekeeper keeps his hives alive and productive. So, a queen’s condition is closely monitored. When she fails, she is dispatched and replaced by another. That’s necessary as a hive will only tolerate a single queen. And the bees often prefer their old, failing queen to a different one.
New beekeepers are eventually faced with dispatching a queen and replacing her. It’s often an unpleasant task. Beekeepers can become as attached, to a queen and her colony, as any pet owner does to their pet. But it is a necessary action or eventually the entire hive fails.
