Cell Plug Boxes for Starting Queencells(蜜蜂育种)

湖北天马养蜂场2011-09-04 16:21:16蜂种生产工具3886

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.

蜜蜂育种工具

Asthequeenlayshereggitisdepositedthroughtheartificialcellontotheinnersurfaceofthebrowncellcup,whicheffectivelyformsthecellbottom.

蜜蜂育种工具

Hereisanotherview,thistimeofthefrontofthebox,thatshowssomeoftheaccessories(furtherpicturesofthecomponentsareavailableonthePlasticBitspage.

JenterSystem

TheJentercombboxisorganiseddifferentlytotheNicotversionwithholesatthebaseofpartdepthplasticcellsthatthesmallbrownplugsfitinto.Thefulldepthofcellsisachievedbythewhitehexagonalplasticgridthatactasaspacerandformspartofthecellwalls.

蜜蜂育种工具

Partsassociatedwiththissystemareillustratedbelow.

蜜蜂育种工具

WhilstoriginallydesignedforholdingJentercellcagetwopartcellplugsforcellstartingandfinishing,theseplugsetsareversatileandcanbeusedforordinarygrafting.

TheJenterCellPlugSystemhasthecellbaseonlyontheremovableplug.

Thecellisformedbyfittingtheplugintooneoftwotypesofcollar.Thisistheoldprofilewhichissmallerinternally.Themouthis8.5mmdiameter.

蜜蜂育种工具

Alittletrickthatcansometimesbeuseful...Theoldertypewillplugintotherearofthenewertype.

ThistipcamefromAlbertKnight.

蜜蜂育种工具

Thesecondtypeofcollarhasthree"wings"whichmakeiteasiertohandle.Theinternalprofileismoreparallelsidedthanthesmallerversionanditsmouthis9.5mmdiameter.Iamconcernedthatthisalterationinshapeandsizeisafurthermanifestationofcontinuouscellsizeenlargement.

蜜蜂育种工具

Theplugandcupformacompleteunitthatthenfitsintotheyellowplugsillustratedabove.

Theactionofthequeenlayinganeggisshownintheillustrationatright.

蜜蜂育种工具

Inorderthatthetransparentqueenexcludergridcanbereadilyseen,theimageisrenderedagainstagreybackground.

Mountingthecombboxinaframe...Eachkitcomeswithinstructionsandthesewillgenerallysaytotakeanemptyused,butsoundcombandcutawayacentralportiontoacceptthecombbox.

蜜蜂育种工具

WhenIfirstusedcellplugboxesIfittedtheboxintoanewframeandtrimmedfoundationtofitaroundthebox.TogetthisframedrawnandtoensurethatitwascleanedandacceptedbythebeesIplaceditinaboxoffoundationframesthatwerebeingdrawnoutbyaswarm.Ialsoleftoffthefrontandrearcoverssothatthebeescouldcleanuptheinsideoftherearcompartmentofthebox.

AfterafewseasonsofusingthecombboxesinthisfashionIinadvertentlyleftoneinacolonyforseveralweeksandthebeesfilleditsolidwithhoneywhichthencrystalised.ThiswasthenignoredbythebeeswhenItriedtogetthemtoeatthecontents.

AsaresultofthiseventIresolvedtoaltermysystemsothatthecombboxesweremountedinhalfwidthframesandtofitouttheunusedspacewithwoodenstripstoformalabyrinththatwouldbetransparenttobees,butwouldnotprovideanyspaceforcombbuilding.Thesmallerframescanbeintroducedintoacolonywithfullsizedframesbymeansofanadaptorframeandthesmallerframewillfitmanyofmynucboxesandmatingnucsgivinggreaterflexibilityofuse.

蜜蜂育种工具

ThepictureatrightisafrontalviewofaJenterboxfittedintoahalfwidthB.S.Nationalframe...Thespacesarealltoonarrowforcombtobebuilt,butrenderthecombboxitselfeasyforbeestoreachfromanydirection.

Therearofthecellplugboxcanbeseeninthisviewandthemethodoffixingcanalsobereadilyseen.

Thecombboxitselfismuchthickerthanthewoodenframe(whichis28mmwide)andsothetwoprojectionsonthetopbarensurethattheframehangsverticalifitispushedupagainstanotherframe.

蜜蜂育种工具

theframelugsarereducedto22mmwidthinorderthattheymayfitintothesheetmetalcastellatedspacersthatInormallyuseinmynucboxes.

Theexternaldimensionsofthewoodworkarethesameasgivenonhalfwidthframespage.

ThesizeandshapeoftheCupkitversionofthecombboxisratherdifferent,butthelabyrinthprincipleisstillusedinordertoobviatethepossibilityofcombbeingbuilt.

蜜蜂育种工具

Thethinplywoodretainingtogglesareusedtokeepboththefrontandrearcoversinplace.Thiswouldnotberequiredwithnewequipment,buttheexampleshownhadalreadybeeninusefortwentyyearsatthetimethatitwasre-builtintothisframeandtheretainingactionofthepegshadbecomenon-existentastheplasticpartshadwornoverthatperiod.

Thebeewaysinthisframeareonly6mmwide,butthisdoesnotseemtohamperthebeesinanyway.

IfIweretomakemoreofthistypeofframeIwouldprobablyarrangeforone9mmbeespaceatthetopandsortthethicknessofthewoodenstripacrossthebottomsothatthereweretwo9mmbeespacesunderthecombbox.

Thenotchesthatcanbeseeninthehorizontalstripsaremerelytoaidthepassageofbeesbetweenthespaces.

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Thereisnosignificanceinthefactthatthesidebarsareofdifferentthickness(otherthanmaterialsavailableatthetime).IfbatchconstructionwasenvisagedIwouldcutsidebarstoexactandequalthickness.

Thepreparedframeshouldbegiventothebees24hoursorsopriortoitbeingneededforusesothatitcomesuptotemperatureandthebeescan"condition"ittotheirliking.