Queen rearing uses a small amount of equipment that must be handled carefully. Most of it is cheap; what matters is not the tool but the discipline of its use.

Cups and bars

A cup imitates the base of a queen cell. It may be plastic or beeswax.

Cups are set on a bar and the bar into a frame. Plastic cups are reusable but must be kept clean; a cup that has picked up a smell is not accepted.

Grafting tool

Transfers the larva into the cup. Flexible-tipped, plunger and feather-tipped types exist; the choice is personal.

What matters is that the tip slides easily under the larva and lifts the brood food with it.

Grafting-free systems

Arrangements exist in which the queen lays into removable cell bases, so the larva is transferred without being touched.

There is no risk of damaging the larva. Against that they require confining the queen and they cost more.

Light and magnification

A day-old larva is small and cannot be selected without good lighting. Strong, direct light is the most useful aid in grafting.

For anyone with difficulty seeing, a magnifying headset is a practical solution.

Cages

• Travel cage: Carries the queen with attendants; candy at one end
• Introduction cage: Used to acclimatise her to a colony
• Protection cage: Protects a mature cell until emergence

Mating boxes

The small colonies in which the queen emerges and mates. Mini types consume few bees but are fragile; nucleus size is more forgiving.

Marking

A paint pen or a numbered disc. Products made for bees must be used.

Using a marking tube or cage to hold the queen is far safer than handling her by hand.

The common rule: cleanliness

All this equipment comes into direct contact with larvae and queens. Chemical traces, odours and residues lower the acceptance rate.

Plastic parts hold smells; they must be stored clean and left free of detergent residue.