The age of larvae is a major factor when grafting because it determines the quality of the resulting queen bee…The grafting process and having a queen bee to show for it is something that can be done by many. However, the science behind our particular method shows remarkable qualitative differences when comparing our final product to others’. At Pope Canyon Queens, we strongly believe that the optimal age range for grafting larvae is between 12 to 24 hours old, with preference to the 12 hour mark.

If larvae are grafted before this time, they may not have enough royal jelly to survive the process. When larvae are grafted after 24 hours, the developmental potential of the queen larvae diminishes, resulting in lesser-quality queens. The age of our grafted larvae makes the timing of the entire process incredibly important. Our highly skilled queen breeders graft swiftly to ensure that the newly grafted larvae are introduced to their cell builder hive within minutes of extraction.

Our team ensures that our 12 hour larvae have all of the nutrients they need by exquisite care and maintenance of our cell builder hives. Our cell builders are fortified with scientifically calculated nutrients and special protein supplements to ensure each hive continues to thrive as they create optimal royal jelly for our precious queen larvae.

Our “Queen-Right” cell builder system is designed and manufactured right here at Pope Canyon Queens. Our experience and expertise with breeding queens in northern California has afforded us the ability to design a system specifically for our weather, environmental factors, and biodiversity of the bee population around us.