Location of new queen cells?

[gmcharlie]

I have been taught and have used the 2 deep method whereas you lock the queen below, and start the cells up above, and then after they are capped make them queenright again....


What I am wondering is what is the downside or upside of haveing the queen cells in the lower chamber and still makeing them queenright?

The reason I ask, is I removed the queens from 3 hives last night, and put in queen cells,,,, (the queens move to a nuc for 3 days) typicaly I would put them back with a queen excluder between them and teh new cells. BUT in this case they hives are only single deep... no upper chamber to really put the new cells in.....

So if I leave the new queen cells down below, and put the queen back, what are the odds she will kill the cells???

Keep in mind these are all Glen's hygenic queens.....(breeder queens)..a bit too valuable to risk loosing...

[Michael Bush]

I don't think it's the laying queen who destroys them, but the nurse bees that sense an adequate laying queen nearby who destroy them. But that is the downside. They will most likely destroy them.

[fish_stix]

What is your purpose in using the breeder queen hives as cell builders?

[gmcharlie]

Thanks Michael! good thought!
FIsh, not sure I understand your question.... in this case I Ran out of queen cups and got hosed by dadant..... so I started queen cells on the face of the frames.... I really didn't want to remove them to mateing nucs, as it would weaken the main hive more than I wanted.
I had planed on putting the virgins in other hives so I got a delay in eggs to control mites, as well as a new fall queen.

seems like I will need to cage them to do that, or split and recombine tha main hives.

[fish_stix]

Hi Charley; from your post it sounds as if you were using the hives containing your Glenn's breeder queens as your cell starters and I just wondered why! I may be misreading your post as I just turned 65 two weeks ago and my faculties aren't what they used to be! :D

[gmcharlie]

ahhh,, okay got you, yes I am doing just that. all my real strong hives got moved to fields (out of the yard) so I am useing the smaller sibgle deep hives containg my breeder queens as starters.. they have a ton of bees and will be fine for that. the breeder queens are put in a nuc for 3 days... and then put back, so they see no interuption really.... the nucs have plenty of space and supplies...

Based on Michael's thoughts I will probably move all 20 queen cells to a different hive as a finisher...... I hate moving 3 day capped cells as I have been advised against it, but it seems like the right thing.


I do have a question For Michael (or anyone ) though.... why is it okay to make a Cloake board cell builder queen right after 3 days, but not a single deep...??

Your thoughts made sense until that hit me....now I am wondering whats the difference?

[Velbert]

look at this for a singgle cell starter and finisher queen rite colony http://www.box.net/shared/pakjm8pk0c

[Joseph Clemens]

Velbert,
Thank you for sharing the spreadsheet, if I can teach myself to use it I just might be able to get my queen cell production on a schedule.