Daughter of Breeder 73, just after being released from a push-in introduction cage.
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All Photos: Adam Foster Collins
A frame of finished queen cells, ready be transferred to mating nucs.
An opened queen cell reveals the pupae in the late stages of the white phase, just beginning to show color and nearing maturity.
A nice frame of brood from one of the breeder queens.
A View of the cell builder yard with Mike in the background.
A cell builder overflowing with bees. Cell builder # 32 from 2018. Has a graft from breeder queen #74.
Cell builders
A nice frame of ripe queen cells.
Mike checks for queen cells in the breeder hive. Unseen queen cells and rogue virgins, play havoc in the cell building apiary.
Another nice queen from Breeder 73.
Mike likes to graft in the cell builder yard. The jeep is easy to keep warm and the seat is comfortable. Efficiency is key during the busy season.
Mike making quick work of grafting, using a Chinese grafting tool; his weapon of choice.
Mike takes time to talk about the queen raising process for a couple of visitors.
Working in the cell building apiary.
Brushing the bees off ripe queen cells before transferring the cells to mating nucs.
Checking the cell quality.