Improved Queen Cell Cups and Cell Sticks

New Zealand Journal of Agriculture, Volume 89, Issue 6, 15 December 1954, Page 617

Improved Queen Cell Cups and Cell Sticks

QUEEN cells built up from artificially formed cell bases are less fragile and easier to handle than queen cells cut from a comb. Though the making of these artificial ■cell cups is comparatively simple, many beekeepers fail to produce a cup comparable ♦o th. queen cup, l -ix by th. be,,. In this article L. A. M Griffin. Apiary Instructor, to the queen cups built by the bees. In this article L. A. M. Griffin, Apiary Instructor, Department of Agriculture, Hastings, describes a method of producing cell cups of a uniform size and depth with very little alteration to the cell-forming sticks already in use by beekeepers.

THERE are many ways of producing a reasonable number of queen cells with complete success, but where large numbers of Queens have to be raised for commercial purposes these methods are not altogether satisfactory. The commercial queen raiser and beekeeper usually makes queen cups artificially and grafts or transfers the young larvae destined for queens into these cupFfor the bees to feed and complete. From this method a greater and more complete control of production is obtained. To save time a large number of these cups, possibly a full season’s requirements, are usually made at the one time. This is a tedious job, and unless great care is taken in the dipping, the resulting cups will be of varying depths and thicknesses according to the temperature of the melted wax when dipped. Deep cell cups not only reduce the .speed of transferring the young grubs, but give the bees extra work, as it is usual for the bees to tear down part

of the cups and rebuild them to their own requirements. Bees first build a shallow Queen cup and taper it to a feather edge just before the queen lays in it. The ideal artificially made cell cup should conform, as closely to that pattern as possible and should be not deeper than 5/16in. to fin. This shallow cup is more acceptable to the bees than a deep cup, as it provides easier access to the grub for feeding and a more natural base on which to build the cell as the grub develops. Apart from IrlftlnF aFareFnmffiFeFof°cunF there f les? S dan£?ef of iniurini? th? ’vmmg o rn h« S in We 5 oun S B 5 L e P rucefaS - The cell-forming sticks illustrated below were first used many years ago by Mr. M. Morgan a well-known apiarist in Victoria, Australia. In his search for a satisfactory method of making cell cups of a standard depth that would resemble more closely the natural queen cups built by the bees he thought of the novel idea of cutting

a groove in his cell sticks that would allow the wax cups to break away at that point no matter how deep the cell sticks were dipped the first time in the me it e d wax Grooved Cell-forming Sticks The ce jj s ti c ks are the usual size, I? a<^e r 9 m dowelling. After the end is rounded on a slight taper 9 groove as shown m the illustration is cut or turned out about loin; to sin. from the rounded end. Newly made sticks should be well soaked in water to swell the grain in the. wood and then resmoothed with very fine partly worn glasspaper. This -will ensure that, the forming sticks will always remain smooth and round when swollen with water in the future. . . .. . Making the tpueen Cups ~T o make the cups the sticks are dipped into the melted wax above the groove the first time, slightly below the groove the second time, and slightly below that again for a third or subsequent dip. A vessel of cool, n °t cold, water should be close to the dipping trough for cooling the wax cups after each dipping. The cups are a little more difficult to remove from this type of forming stick, as it is necessary for the wax to break away at the shoulder of the

groove. An easy way to remove the cups is to hold the rack of cell sticks in the right hand and gently take the cups one at a time between the thumb and forefinger of the left hand, using the forefinger of the right hand to push gently against the tip of the left finger holding the cup. In this way a steady, controlled push and pull motion is obtained.' The cups will break away easily with a thin feather edge and will all be the same depth. The small rim of wax left in the groove is easily peeled off with the thumbnail and a turning movement of the hand.

The forming sticks only guarantee the size and depth of the cups. The secret of making good cell cups is in maintaining the melted wax at the correct temperature for dipping. If the wax is too cool, thick, heavy, and often lumpy cups will result, as shown on the left of the illustration. If the wax is too hot, the cups will require extra dipping and the layer of wax from the first dipping will be full of air bubbles. These are caused by the expansion of trapped air when the overheated wax comes in contact with the cool, wet forming sticks. With a few trials the correct temperature will soon be obtained. A wax trough of sufficient length to take the full bar of cell sticks sus-

pended in a tank of hot water is best for melting the wax, as the correct temperature is more easily maintained. Any receptacle that is long enough to take the cell sticks will do, provided about an inch of water is first placed in the bottom to prevent the wax from contact with the direct heat. Only the best and cleanest wax should be used for making cell cups. The cups can be placed in wooden cell bases or attached directly to the cell bars with wax. If the latter method is adopted, a sufficient quantity of liquid wax is slowly spread along the centre of the bar, the cups being placed quickly in position before the wax sets.

Rejection of Fat Lambs for Export

A LARGE number of fat lambs never reach the shipping stage because of grading down or rejection at the works for faults caused either through ignorance or want of thought, Bruising through Rough Handling The nrineinal cans? of reieetion is bruising, which could be obviated by care and attention. Many handlers of fat lambs in transit for killing do not seem to care where or how they seize the animals. The result of grabbing a large handful of back or side wool is a large purple-red bruise some 3in. to 4-in in f'to's'hours ‘ he roof of the wool ?n 2 hours wool in z to d Hours. Similar injuries result from kicks, poking with sticks, slamming with drafting race gates, and contact with projecting portions of races or fences, Last but not least is the dog bite. Too many people trucking, droving, or untrucking lambs are in an unnecessary hurry, exciting the dogs so much that they bite . the lambs, frighten them, and make them move much faster. This rough handling of lambs causes extensive areas of bruising, which in time appear as large, dark red patches on the deeper parts of the skin and underlying tissue, spoiling the appearance and detracting from the value of the carcass. Some carcasses with mild bruising drop to second class, thus losing 2d. per pound. Other more

severe cases drop to the reject class with a loss of Bd. per pound; carcasses with more extensive bruised areas qualify for the preserver class and lose lad. per pound, and with total condemnations there is a loss of 16d. per pound. In one lot of 304 fat lambs s( Pt to the works 16 had been dog bl Aten on with a loss of £1 18s. on 381 b. lambs. pother 10 were rejected, showing a j£ S! L A l2 E ' 4d ” makmg a total loss 01 fcl * 11S - Barley Grass Blemishes Ra / lpv whpn thp rinp jjariey A causes an appreciable Kss seeded stage causes an appreciable loss to the export trade through the seed heads penetrating the skins of sheep and passing into the flesh underneath, There they set up large dark red patches which resemble and have the same effect as brusing, causing monetary loss to the farmer. If barley grass was topped with a mower before ripening, this loss could be largely wiped out. One owner railed a mob of 220 fat lambs to the works; 20 were made second class, a loss of about £6 7s. on 381b.lambs, and 4 were rejected, a loss of £5 Is. 4d., making a total loss of £ll Bs. 4d. One freezing works in the South Island had to reject for bruising 867 fat lambs in 1953 with a loss to farmers of roughly £lO9B. There are

37 freezing works exporting lambs and with a similar loss in all of them the export level would be down by 30,345 lambs. It should be possible for those handling fat lambs to take more care and time and avoid this unnecessary loss.

—W. RICHARDSON,

Supervising Meat Inspector, Freezing Works, Burnside