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  "description": "A recent study suggests that a beeswax Jenter-like system produces bigger, better queens than are reared by conventional grafting. Does this offer a worthwhile alternative approach to the current expensive (plastic) commercial queen rearing systems?",
  "path": "/a-beeswax-jenter-system/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-07T16:00:48.000Z",
  "site": "https://theapiarist.org",
  "tags": [
    "grafted larvae",
    "Subscribe now"
  ],
  "textContent": "Here's something that caught my eye last week … a Jenter-like system made entirely from beeswax that avoids the need to graft day-old larvae.\n\nThe authors report it produces larger queen cells, and bigger, more _'queen-like'_ queens, than larvae grafted from the same source.\n\nTempting, very tempting 😄.\n\nThe majority of commercially reared queens are produced from grafted larvae, transferred manually from natural comb to a plastic queen cup. These are presented vertically in a queenless cell raiser, fed copious amounts of royal jelly, and eventually emerge as queens.\n\nAmateur beekeepers use similar methods, but some struggle with manual grafting of larvae of less than one day old.\n\nPoor eyesight, unsteady hands, and dodgy hand-eye coordination result in larvae being missed or damaged. Inadvertent compensation frequently leads to the selection of larvae that are too old. Together these result in low acceptance rates or the production of substandard queens.\n\n## Jenter and Nicot Cupkit systems\n\nOne solution is to use a Nicot or Jenter “cassette system” for queen rearing, in which a caged queen lays directly into plastic cups which are then presented to a cell raising colony. Both are designed to produce numerous larvae of the right age, without the need for grafting.\n\nJenter queen cup components and holder\n\nThese cassette systems are not inexpensive (the Nicot Cupkit version is ~£75 and the Jenter system is currently £114 😱). An additional drawback is that queens may be reluctant to lay when confined in them.\n\n__Beemusings__ posts are only available to paying subscribers (sponsors) of __The Apiarist__. Why not sign up and see what you're missing? Sponsorship costs about the same as a large cappuccino a month, with discounts for annual membership.\n\nSign up\n\nRecently, some fiendishly dextrous researchers at Jiangxi Agricultural University have produced a Jenter-like system entirely from beeswax. Using it, they demonstrate that the queens they produce appear to be _better_ than queens reared by grafting of larvae _from the same original frame_.\n\nSounds good … read on.\n\n### This post is for subscribers only\n\nBecome a member to get access to all content\n\nSubscribe now",
  "title": "A beeswax Jenter system",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-07T18:00:48.606Z"
}