Thismethodhasallowedmany"wouldbe"queenrearerstoachievetheirobjective.Itisasimplemechanicalwayoftransferringlarvaefromtheartificialcomb,inwhichtheeggswerelaid,toartificialqueencellmimickingcups.Thebeesdotherest!
Whilstthereisalittlemoretoitthanmysimpledescriptionmightindicate...Providingthetimingiscorrectandtheweatherisnottoobadthenusefulresultswillbeeasilyachieved.Itiscommonforbeekeepersthathavestartedbythismethodtogoontodeveloptheirskillsingraftinghoneybeelarvaeandtousethecomponentsofthekit,cellcups,yellowplugs,adaptorsandcellframebarsinasimilarmannertoothercellcupsystems.
Worldwidetherearemanydifferenttypesofcellplugbox...Iamfamiliarwithtwoparticulartypes:
TheNicotCupkitSystem.
ThisismadeinFranceandavailablefromseveralUKdealers.
TheJenterSystem.
TheoriginofthistypeiseitherSwitzerlandorGermany.Forreasonsof
whichIamuncertaintheJentersystemseemsmorepopular(althoughI
personallyhavetwoNicotkitsandonlyoneJenterbox).
NicotCupkit
Thelargeillustrationshowsthesmallbrowncellcups(detailimmediateleft)beingloadedintothebackofthecombbox.Thespigotsontowhichthecupsareplacedarethehexagonaltubesthatsimulatenormalcells.Thesecellsareaccessedbythequeenfromthefrontcompartmentoftheboxwhereinsheistrappedbyaqueenexcludingplasticcover.
Asthequeenlayshereggitisdepositedthroughtheartificialcellontotheinnersurfaceofthebrowncellcup,whicheffectivelyformsthecellbottom.
Hereisanotherview,thistimeofthefrontofthebox,thatshowssomeoftheaccessories(furtherpicturesofthecomponentsareavailableonthePlasticBitspage.
JenterSystem
TheJentercombboxisorganiseddifferentlytotheNicotversionwithholesatthebaseofpartdepthplasticcellsthatthesmallbrownplugsfitinto.Thefulldepthofcellsisachievedbythewhitehexagonalplasticgridthatactasaspacerandformspartofthecellwalls.
Partsassociatedwiththissystemareillustratedbelow.
WhilstoriginallydesignedforholdingJentercellcagetwopartcellplugsforcellstartingandfinishing,theseplugsetsareversatileandcanbeusedforordinarygrafting.
TheJenterCellPlugSystemhasthecellbaseonlyontheremovableplug.
Thecellisformedbyfittingtheplugintooneoftwotypesofcollar.Thisistheoldprofilewhichissmallerinternally.Themouthis8.5mmdiameter.
Alittletrickthatcansometimesbeuseful...Theoldertypewillplugintotherearofthenewertype.
ThistipcamefromAlbertKnight.
Thesecondtypeofcollarhasthree"wings"whichmakeiteasiertohandle.Theinternalprofileismoreparallelsidedthanthesmallerversionanditsmouthis9.5mmdiameter.Iamconcernedthatthisalterationinshapeandsizeisafurthermanifestationofcontinuouscellsizeenlargement.
Theplugandcupformacompleteunitthatthenfitsintotheyellowplugsillustratedabove.
Theactionofthequeenlayinganeggisshownintheillustrationatright.
Inorderthatthetransparentqueenexcludergridcanbereadilyseen,theimageisrenderedagainstagreybackground.
Mountingthecombboxinaframe...Eachkitcomeswithinstructionsandthesewillgenerallysaytotakeanemptyused,butsoundcombandcutawayacentralportiontoacceptthecombbox.
WhenIfirstusedcellplugboxesIfittedtheboxintoanewframeandtrimmedfoundationtofitaroundthebox.TogetthisframedrawnandtoensurethatitwascleanedandacceptedbythebeesIplaceditinaboxoffoundationframesthatwerebeingdrawnoutbyaswarm.Ialsoleftoffthefrontandrearcoverssothatthebeescouldcleanuptheinsideoftherearcompartmentofthebox.
AfterafewseasonsofusingthecombboxesinthisfashionIinadvertentlyleftoneinacolonyforseveralweeksandthebeesfilleditsolidwithhoneywhichthencrystalised.ThiswasthenignoredbythebeeswhenItriedtogetthemtoeatthecontents.
AsaresultofthiseventIresolvedtoaltermysystemsothatthecombboxesweremountedinhalfwidthframesandtofitouttheunusedspacewithwoodenstripstoformalabyrinththatwouldbetransparenttobees,butwouldnotprovideanyspaceforcombbuilding.Thesmallerframescanbeintroducedintoacolonywithfullsizedframesbymeansofanadaptorframeandthesmallerframewillfitmanyofmynucboxesandmatingnucsgivinggreaterflexibilityofuse.
ThepictureatrightisafrontalviewofaJenterboxfittedintoahalfwidthB.S.Nationalframe...Thespacesarealltoonarrowforcombtobebuilt,butrenderthecombboxitselfeasyforbeestoreachfromanydirection.
Therearofthecellplugboxcanbeseeninthisviewandthemethodoffixingcanalsobereadilyseen.
Thecombboxitselfismuchthickerthanthewoodenframe(whichis28mmwide)andsothetwoprojectionsonthetopbarensurethattheframehangsverticalifitispushedupagainstanotherframe.
theframelugsarereducedto22mmwidthinorderthattheymayfitintothesheetmetalcastellatedspacersthatInormallyuseinmynucboxes.
Theexternaldimensionsofthewoodworkarethesameasgivenonhalfwidthframespage.
ThesizeandshapeoftheCupkitversionofthecombboxisratherdifferent,butthelabyrinthprincipleisstillusedinordertoobviatethepossibilityofcombbeingbuilt.
Thethinplywoodretainingtogglesareusedtokeepboththefrontandrearcoversinplace.Thiswouldnotberequiredwithnewequipment,buttheexampleshownhadalreadybeeninusefortwentyyearsatthetimethatitwasre-builtintothisframeandtheretainingactionofthepegshadbecomenon-existentastheplasticpartshadwornoverthatperiod.
Thebeewaysinthisframeareonly6mmwide,butthisdoesnotseemtohamperthebeesinanyway.
IfIweretomakemoreofthistypeofframeIwouldprobablyarrangeforone9mmbeespaceatthetopandsortthethicknessofthewoodenstripacrossthebottomsothatthereweretwo9mmbeespacesunderthecombbox.
Thenotchesthatcanbeseeninthehorizontalstripsaremerelytoaidthepassageofbeesbetweenthespaces.
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Thereisnosignificanceinthefactthatthesidebarsareofdifferentthickness(otherthanmaterialsavailableatthetime).IfbatchconstructionwasenvisagedIwouldcutsidebarstoexactandequalthickness.
Thepreparedframeshouldbegiventothebees24hoursorsopriortoitbeingneededforusesothatitcomesuptotemperatureandthebeescan"condition"ittotheirliking.