I had 3 successful 2018 overwinter colonies. WildCA18A colony has shown itself to be extremely gentle, productive and the most hygienic colony I have seen to date. They appear to have a good mite resistance. I would like to carry these genetics forward. Also possible re-queening Wild17 colony.
Pulled 1 frame of larva with 1-4 days old eggs and larva from WildCA18A. I grafted using a “Chinese grafting tool”, 8 larva of the correct size and shape into plastic queen cups. These queen cups had been previously polished out by nurse bees and should be more accepted.
This single grafting frame was placed into a starter colony box. The starter colony box was prepared the day prior with 2 frames of nurse bees and 2 frames of pollen and nectar from WildCA18A colony.