Grafting Honey Bee Larvae for Queen Rearing

This video is a series of clips intended for participants of my queen rearing workshop on July 22 2017. I am using a chinese-style grafting tool to pick up larvae and placing them in JZ-BZ plastic cell cups. Some attempts go smoothly, others are not as good. We can learn from them all :)
If this is your first time viewing my channel please note my videos are not usually like this. This was purely a demo video that goes along with a workshop on full methods of queen production.
No other groups or intsructors may steal and use these clips for their own purposes of demonstrating or teaching. Please contact me first before using this video in any public speaking, teaching, or seminar style environment.
Thanks to everyone who showed up for the workshop!

[@ronaldfutch508]

Very clear and greatest demo I have ever seen on grafting , thanks for posting.

[@matthewrick]

Fantastic. I’ve searched for months to find a grafting video this well shot. Excellent work, thank you for taking the time to make this, and make this right!

[@backyardbeekeepingadventur335]

I wish you still made videos. I enjoyed watching them as they were all well made.

[@kareneaton3395]

Most excellent Devan. Thank you for taking the time and extra effort to help us all. I will be referring this instructional video. All your videos are so well explained. Keep them coming.

[@stevedovel]

Best close up shots I've seen. A lot of folks talk about how its done but no gets in close to show it being done. Looking forward to more videos.

[@DevanRawn]

Awesome, glad it helps you. It's definitely not an easy shot to light well, and focus, and view through the camera because it has to be there, and try to keep my finger and thumb out of the way of the lens. I made this for teaching a workshop because i have taught queen rearing for year by looking over someone's shoulder and trying to direct them. It was definitely necessary to film some good demo material.

[@sharonriley948]

Hi Devan, I have been enjoying your videos for some time. I have never grafted a queen, I am only a hobbyist, and I just make a few walk away splits when I want to increase the stock. I have watched a lot of queen grafting videos, and I think the flexible plastic tipped tool looks easiest to use with least chance of injuring the tiny larvae. Good video. Thanks Rick in Pa.

[@bstein9500]

Excellent. Even the soundtrack!!!

[@user-fo1tx5bk7b]

❤Thank you very much, the best video on grafting queen bees

[@natserog]

awesome shots! thanks Devan

[@smokymountainbeekeep]

Great video with great detail. I notice that your grafting tool has a "split V" on the tip. Does that allow better transfer of the larvae into the queen cup?

[@GreenFurnNW]

Great video.

[@malte4919]

Thank you for the close up video. Really helped me alot to see what larvae to get.

[@PhillipHall01]

Same here.... Thanks appreciated!

[@zecolmeiadaresenha]

Edevaldo apicultor ✌️✌️👍👍👍👍👍

[@CaliforniaRussianRiverBees]

Great Job 🤗🐝🐝

[@joer5627]

Well done, close ups helped. Miss your videos. Hope all is well

[@user-ni1ly3qj2w]

Hi hope u are fine and everything is OK.thank you so much.

[@gateway8833]

This is way cool.

[@rafiki270]

best! like all other videos!!! ... please come out of the hibernation :)

[@jrmars5434]

Is Devan dry grfting? I see a bit of clear liquid in the plastic cups but it doesn't look like royal jelly to me.

[@PhillipHall01]

Very good video. How old are the larva that you are grafting?

[@dlloyd32]

Really nice technique and great clarity. What were you filming with? Thanks for a great series of videos. It is winter in Australia so I am beekeeping vicariously through you Cheers david

[@DevanRawn]

Thanks for the compliment. I film with a sony a6300. I was using macro extension tubes on a zoom lens around 100mm. It was a challenge to have the camera lens in the right position and graft at the same time. I also had LED lights surrounding the frame in an effort to light down to the bottom of the cell. I hadn't been able to find much good video like this to show students, so I took it upon myself.

[@alx252]

good job doing this throug the lense :)

[@kellycarpenter9350]

Would an eye dropper work better than a graphing tool .?

[@nobertl]

Good info for education

[@shivmourya7837]

Very nice Sir

[@SFERDIAN]

Best on KZbin I watched a lot of video non like this one

[@zecolmeiadaresenha]

Edevaldo apicultor ✌️✌️👍👍👍

[@melpratesmetodorecuo7924]

Show parceiro, Tmj e inscrito 🤝👏🙏🐝

[@kellycarpenter9350]

You've got the frame back light on a light board ?

[@noahriding5780]

Is it possible to do this well on the 1st try? It seems so small to work with when looking at it in person. (Cameras make it look big & easy...)

[@ahmedmohamed9013]

Thanks for the video I am just scared that they will be older than 3 days so what I will do I will mark the location of new eggs then check every day until they hatch so this way I will guarantee they will be one to two days old

[@the3d_dude]

What video setup are you using? Would you mind listing the equipment?

[@DevanRawn]

I record all my videos with a sony a6300. to record this I was actually using the kit telephoto zoom (55-210mm) with 26mm of stacked extension tubes. I probably had the lens set around 100mm so it was far enough away from the frame, but with extension tubes so it could still focus closely. Lens stopped down to F11 probably for enough depth of field. I lit the frame with two 1500 lumen LEDs, one on each side of the camera lens. I basically had to graft looking at the rear LCD of the camera because I couldn't really see around it, that's why I'm a bit shaky and messed up a couple larvae.

[@obakh222]

Nice fingers

[@kittysnyder260]

I want to start grafting queens. Your video was great but I have just one question...where does the royal gelly come from?

[@REVHARDD]

nurse bees

[@user-ks3by3pr6p]

@@REVHARDD good

[@muratgokirmak8398]

You are great beekeeper but this grafting old methodology. We are using nicot system for queen rearing. Easily take Daily eggs and zero mistake... Rise Superior queen easily lay 2000 eggs may or June..mother nature if give you good pollen. Love from Anatolia..

[@Nomeado]

Greetings from Brazil!!!

[@miljanbozovic5051]

Ekstra....

[@ajayshankarkairi8240]

What kind of instrument you r using in this video .pls let me know

[@DevanRawn]

chinese style grafting tool. flexible reed tip for lifting larvae

[@bijayasharma2868]

Queen cup size please?

[@cyrusf.4039]

Do I hear Eric Burdon's "Spill the wine"?

[@paulchristu996]

Would it be helpful to take some of the cells with older larvae, remove the larvae then add the royal jelly from those cells to the grafts to give them a boost?

[@namentatic4978]

Older larvae usually making bad queens. Younger are better.

[@salvadorgonzalez3761]

Not is using old larva it is discard, only the remaining jelly to improve the start(double amount of jelly).

[@r.r.s4812]

The video is good at showing 1 part of queen grafting. I like your videos but can you go into more detail about this subject? Nodody that i have seen on youtube has taken this subject through from beginning to end, in depth.

[@Imkerei2024]

why you just dont use nicot

[@DevanRawn]

Once you learn how to graft, it is a more reliable method to use. In a queen rearing operation where I rely on a strict schedule and often graft 900 queen cells in 1 day, the nicot system isn't adequate. It leaves too much to chance with the queen laying in those cups at just the right time.

[@Imkerei2024]

Devan Rawn they look like 4.9

[@DevanRawn]

? Is this a reference to the cell size? If so, I believe this is from a sheet of pierco plastic foundation. So no, it's not small cell size.

[@utubedaveg521]

Hey Devon I used the nicot system and it worked well but I'll learn to graft now. It gave me confidence in my process with my starter/finisher. What I did not like I had to sequester my best queen for 4 days in the cage and after release she did not start laying for another six days. I lost alot of bees in that hive. I really like the nicot cages and will use the system for grafting. thanks for the videos

[@prettygirl986]

when he's putting them back, most of them would have died, he's using the tool incorrectly

[@screech1991]

So what's the correct way, then?

[@beedazzledbees3893]

your grafting tool is worn out, you fliped the larva over half the time ,they wont live, great try at the video tho.

[@jaibusby673]

ruggard

[@pauldow1648]

Is there any audio ?

[@DevanRawn]

No. As stated in the description, this video was created and uploaded for a workshop that I taught on queen rearing. So in the workshop I can explain to participants what's going on and why. It was never really intended to be seen by everyone on the internet, but that's my fault for leaving it up. Take a workshop, pay someone fairly for the time and effort they put into teaching and you'll get all the benefits.