# cell punching



## crofter (May 5, 2011)

First problem compared to grafting is that it doesnt work so well from plastic foundtion combs and with wired wax you have to work around existing vertical and horizontal embedded wiring. Foundationless no problem. I have made a cell punch and on practice runs works slick and the plugs can be attached to bars or pressed into comb. I set some combs with good sized pieces of wax foundation pieces and it got drawn out nicely with even aged groups of eggs laid. Thats where my plans went off the rails! Just about then I had a couple hives threaten to swarm and gave me all the cells I needed.

You dont need a punch though they are easy to make. The cell could be cut out with an exacto knife and does not have to be round.


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## johnwratcliff (Feb 24, 2015)

The only foundation I have is from nucs that I have bought. Plus the queen that I'm going to be breeding from is all foundationless...unless she dies over the winter! I have two or three colonies that I like for target to breed from. All are foundationless. And I'm going to make my punch tool today. I have a brass ring, nail and dowel.


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## crofter (May 5, 2011)

From my bookmarks; queen production without grafting. A wealth of informative ideas no matter what method you use to present the larvae to the bees.

http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?249478-Raising-Queen-Cells-Without-Grafting

I made my punch from a 300 Win. Magnum cartridge casing.


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## Kamon A. Reynolds (Apr 15, 2012)

It works well if you need just a couple dozen queens. I like a super strong queenless 5 frame nuc to drawout the cells in. I also prefer to use young larvae floating in Jelly because it shows you how well they are being fed. It has been years since I have tried this method and I am no means an expert on the subject of punching but I have raised thousands of queens via the grafting method and the conditions are the same.

A Strong queenless 5 frame colony with NO exposed larvae. Feed them if it is not between the months of April and mid June. Above all pull the cells out before they emerge and that timing will depend on if you use eggs or larvae. Larvae works better in my experience. Don't forget to have fun raising queens is the best!


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## J.Walters (Sep 24, 2015)

Speaking from experience:
Cell punch - 2 years ago from Spring to Fall. *Pros* - Using the brass ring with dowel was easy to make punches with, did a fair job on raising Queens with using warm wax to mold down the cell to the wooden bar. Was a great way to pick very young larva, 12hrs old without trying to manipulate the larva in moving it with a grafting tool. *Cons* - Using no foundation or foundation with wires because of the tool punching through. After you punch so many holes into a foundation the bees fill it in with drone comb and make a disaster out of the frame. Having warm wax nearby so electricity, warming pot, etc is hard if your apiary is far out.
OTS - last year from Spring to Fall. *Pros* - Every hive that came through winter, the Queen was taken away to start new nuc hives. Each hive was evaluated for strength and each frame of brood was notched at least 3 to 4 times. Put everything back together and check frames again for capped cells in 6 days. Pick the best 2 cells per frame and crush the 3rd / 4th, then using each frame with Queen cells, use them to create another nuc. It is quick/easy to make new nucs as long as each nuc has enough resources. I created 36 nucs before Fall from the original 9 full hives that made it through winter. For the backyard beekeeper - 5 to 20 hives, this is the perfect way to be sustainable with your own Queens. *Cons* - It uses the resources of your hive to create each nuc. The amount of Queens / nucs you want is directly related to resources. Cuts down on your honey production.

This year I will be grafting with the metal German tool for the maximum amount of Queens as I'm going to be selling Queens to my local club members & my own nucs building yards using the 4 over 4 method (Mike Palmer), to create super hives for honey/cut comb production.


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## johnwratcliff (Feb 24, 2015)

J Walters
Thank you for your input. I'm hoping to make a bank of about 20 our so queens plus requeen a bunch of hives in late summer when i split them. I'm guessing ill need about 60 all total. I'm excited. This should be fun.


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