A Jenter kit or Karl Jenter kit is a piece of equipment used by
beekeepers to raise large numbers of
queen honeybees.
Rival techniques for rearing queen bees generally require grafting the honeybee
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
e by hand. As such, the development of this kit by Karl Jenter is a significantly useful tool to assist in
beekeeping
Beekeeping (or apiculture) is the maintenance of bee colonies, commonly in man-made beehives. Honey bees in the genus '' Apis'' are the most-commonly-kept species but other honey-producing bees such as ''Melipona'' stingless bees are also kept. ...
.
Application
Beekeepers once had to graft the
honeybee eggs or larvae by hand, using tiny scoup-like tools and in some cases by using tools such as tweezers. This fiddly approach would frequently result in the damaging of the egg or larva that was being grafted thus halting the development into a queen bee.
The Jenter kit uses a system of plastic cups or 'cells' in which a queen bee can lay her eggs. The cells containing the eggs can then be removed from the laying box and placed into an isolated box for larval development - with no direct handling of the larvae.
As the first queen bee to hatch will kill rival hatchlings, the eggs are covered with a small plastic cage. This prevents a newly hatched queen from approaching the other eggs, and thus harming them. This allows a beekeeper to return to the hive to find a large number of newly hatched queen bees.
Within 30 days, it is possible to rear as many as 50 queens using a single Jenter kit.
Challenges with using the Jenter kit range from queens taking several days to decide to use the cups to lay in, to having to carefully observe the eggs and larvae which are hard to see due to the coloration of the cups in the kit.
Usage
In modern times, the Jenter kit is in use by Western European and North American
apiarist
A beekeeper is a person who keeps honey bees.
Beekeepers are also called honey farmers, apiarists, or less commonly, apiculturists (both from the Latin '' apis'', bee; cf. apiary). The term beekeeper refers to a person who keeps honey bees i ...
s. The kit allows for Queen bees to be produced commercially to supply other beekeepers, or a beekeeper may increase their number of
hives
Hives, also known as urticaria, is a kind of skin rash with red, raised, itchy bumps. Hives may burn or sting. The patches of rash may appear on different body parts, with variable duration from minutes to days, and does not leave any long-lasti ...
. Both uses have become increasingly important as a mechanism to maintain large numbers of bee colonies worldwide in the fight against
Varroa mites
''Varroa destructor'', the ''Varroa'' mite is an external parasitic mite that attacks and feeds on the honey bees ''Apis cerana'' and ''Apis mellifera''. The disease caused by the mites is called varroosis.
The ''Varroa'' mite can reproduce on ...
and
Colony collapse disorder.
References
External links
How to use a Karl Jenter kit for Honey Bee Queen Rearing(2008)
{{BeeColonyMemberTypes
Beekeeping tools