Beekeeping Adventures in Nebraska (cont.)

by Kirsten S. Traynor

The following morning we all met at the field lab. Since grafting can take some getting used to, Dr. Spivak arranged for every participant to have a practice grafting session. There were only four grafting stations, so while some grafted the other students engaged in different pursuits, such as arranging a finishing colony, preparing a swarm box, or marking queens. Once everyone had rotated through all the activities, we broke for lunch. After lunch we grafted again, but this time for real. Dr. Spivak let us look at the grafter larvae under a microscope to see if we had missed any cells and if the larvae were still breathing. Then the queen cells were placed in the finishing colonies. Alternatives to grafting as well as mating yards were discussed. The best method for success in queen introduction was also demonstrated. We finished a very successful two day course with another cook-out. As we ate, the air filled with animated discussion. Everyone was excited about having grafted successfully.

Dr. Spivak stressed the importance of queen rearing practices with a statement by C. L. Farrar: "Poorly-reared queens of productive stock will always be inferior to well-reared queens of less-productive stock." We knew that the methods she had taught us in two days would serve us well in our own queen rearing operations.

Our class mates included writers from bee magazines, an entomologist from Boston, Ma., commercial beekeepers, people from the San Francisco, CA area and from all over the USA. We were extremely happy that we had decided to travel 1200 miles by automobile to meet these very interesting people.

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Article Contributed by:
Kirsten Traynor
Flickerwood Apiary
Middletown, MD 21769
flickerwood@mdbee.com