# room temperature while making queen reaaring frame?



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

93.5 degrees Fahrenheit. They like it a little bit warmer than normal (the core of the hive is usually 92 degrees F) when making queens.

A little bit low won't hurt if you are quick, as in less than 10 minutes pulling the grafting frame to placing the grafts in the Cell Builder.


----------



## Ian (Jan 16, 2003)

We cover the frames with a warm damp cloth


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

If you make up a bucket of hot water, cool it with ice until it is 95 degrees F, then haul it into the grafting tent last thing before you pull the donor frame, you can keep the spray bottle and the cover cloth submerged in it and the temperature will stay just about right for at least a couple frames of grafting, if not longer.


----------



## Richard Cryberg (May 24, 2013)

It does not hurt larva nor sealed brood to drop to 70 deg F for quite some time. A few hours old larva are fine for over 24 hours at 70 deg F. As others have pointed out it is really important to avoid drying out larva. That can kill them fast. I have had frames out of the hive while grafting for periods of over a half hour many times and make no attempt at all to hold any particular temperature. I am sure at times I have grafted with outside air temps below 60 deg F so there are several minutes of outside air temps before I get to the shop where the temp is between 65 and 75 F generally. If I am grafting and notice any hint that the larva are starting to dry, which makes them harder to pick up, I mist the whole frame with a water bottle with a sprayer on it. That does not happen until the frame has been out of the hive more than a half hour. Grafted cells go in a zip lock bag with a piece of wet paper towel in the bag to hold humidity sky high as I often do not put the grafts on the cell frame until I am out where the queen builder hive is.


----------



## Bdfarmer555 (Oct 7, 2015)

Lol. That makes me feel better. Just transported a frame for grafting to an opportune builder. Sat it in a nuc box in the passenger seat of my truck to give it a smoother ride. Left the ac off to prevent drying. Humid and warm the whole way there. Hive to hive was 30 minutes. Good to see this thread. Feeling better now.


----------



## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Same here as Richard. If you are more or less comfortable your grafts will be fine as long as they don't dry out. Quicker is better, but an hour out of the hive won't ruin things. Keep a room temp spritzer of plain clean water handy and don't be affraid to use it.

Seriously, while you are learning you can use slightly larger than the invisibly small larva and still get great queens - maybe better, because they're so much quicker and easier to handle.


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

I've never noticed mass die off in the frame I graft from and I am SLOW. I try to keep them moist and do it in my Civic with all the windows up. Plenty warm.


----------



## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

So, there you have some successes at lower temps, but NOT with drying out!

I find I get my best results by being quick, warm, and damp, with 80- to 86-hour-old larvae from the breeder queen's isolation hive. The concept of continuous feeding of royal jelly is the idea - the closer to uninterrupted, the better.


----------



## Flyer Jim (Apr 22, 2004)

Richard Cryberg said:


> It does not hurt larva nor sealed brood to drop to 70 deg F for quite some time. A few hours old larva are fine for over 24 hours at 70 deg F. As others have pointed out it is really important to avoid drying out larva. That can kill them fast. I have had frames out of the hive while grafting for periods of over a half hour many times and make no attempt at all to hold any particular temperature. I am sure at times I have grafted with outside air temps below 60 deg F so there are several minutes of outside air temps before I get to the shop where the temp is between 65 and 75 F generally.


:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup: Yep, you guys are making this way too hard.


----------



## bevy's honeybees (Apr 21, 2011)

All great advice, thank you. I will set ac at 84 or 85 and keep the damp rags ready. I thought about doing it in the garage but the lighting is not great as I would leave the door shut. 
This is going to be fun!

I'm signed up for a one day workshop on queen rearing over in Ft Lauderdale being done by Dr Larry Connor in August. I went to a queen rearing class in West Palm Beach in May that was very good, but wow, a class by Dr Connor can't be beat.


----------



## snl (Nov 20, 2009)

jwcarlson said:


> I try to keep them moist and do it in my Civic with all the windows up. Plenty warm.


Isn't it against the law to graft in a ..... C I V I C ???? :lookout:


----------



## AHudd (Mar 5, 2015)

Richard Cryberg said:


> It does not hurt larva nor sealed brood to drop to 70 deg F for quite some time. A few hours old larva are fine for over 24 hours at 70 deg F. As others have pointed out it is really important to avoid drying out larva. That can kill them fast. I have had frames out of the hive while grafting for periods of over a half hour many times and make no attempt at all to hold any particular temperature.


Can the same be said for eggs?

Alex


----------

