using queen cells

[brac]

Could someone explain how exactly you use go from having a good cell to having a mated queen. I see that cells sell for cheap. I have also seen mention of a cell protector (but no picture of one). I plan to do some queen rearing this coming year and understand the process right up to the part where you are supposed to put the queen cell into the mating nuc (or hive).
Thanks

[RayMarler]

This is a cell protector: http://www.mannlakeltd.com/ProductDetail.asp?idproduct=895&idCategory=13

Make up your mating nuc, I suggest 1 frame open nectar, 2 frames sealed brood, 1 frame pollen, and a good shake of nurse bees from an open larva frame. Add a sugar water feeder.

Insert the cell into a cell protector, and push it into comb on a side of a frame inbetween the 2 frames of sealed brood. Make sure the cell is hanging down, so that the queen hatches out of the bottom, as is natural in a hive.

I don't use any open larva unless it is old larva, old enough so no queens can be raised from it. When giving cells, it's best to introduce them into a nuc or hive that is hopelessly queenless (no possibility to raise a queen from young larva).

Check back in a few days to see if cell has hatched, if so, close it up and leave it alone. Don't go looking for the queen yet, just check the cell and close it up. Check back in 2 weeks and look for eggs and queen. If no eggs yet, check back in another week. Usually you'll find eggs in two weeks, but sometimes it takes into the 3rd week.

Setting it up this way, by the time the queen is laying you'll have 2 frames worth of brood emerging as nurse bees for taking care of brood the queen is laying. This will help the queen take off like a shot to the moon when she gets mated and starts laying. Expand into hive body size as the nuc starts to be filled with hatching bees from the new queen. Watch for your nectar flows and weather when setting this up and expanding into full boxes. I like to keep a feeder on them until they get the brood section of the hive drawn, filled and crowded with bees. Then I'll take off the feeders and add supers for honey crop.

[brac]

Ray, Thanks for the explaination. So all of that makes sense, but now I have a question about the cell protector. So what does it protect the cell from?

I had thought it protected it from the bees but looking at that picture, it looks like a bee could chew the end open?

[RayMarler]

If you give queen cells to a queenless hive that has young open larva, they will sometimes destroy the cell and raise a queen of their own from their own young larva. The cell protector is designed to prevent this. If you are giving a cell that is ready to hatch within a day, the bees may chew open the end but that will only cause the queen to be released. To actually destroy the queen, they'd have to open the cell from the side of the cell, normally.

If the hive or nuc is hopelessly queenless, you can have success giving the cells without a protector. The bees don't always try to destroy a cell anyways, but sometimes they do and more often so when they have young larva to make their own queen themselves.

[suttonbeeman]

I disagree with Ray somewhat....I use cells to requeen with in a queen right hive with 80+ sucess. To make up a nuc using cells I take two frames of brood....I prefer open cells of larvae with some sealed. By the time the queen mates and starts laying its almost all hatched anyway. I look for queen quickly...if I dont find her I shake off the bees and put two frames of brood above a excluder with a frame of honey. The young nurse bees will come up and cover the young larvae and you dont have to move to a new yard as you get little drift with the young bees. You can if you want...its a little better but not worth the effort.
I dont worry about pollen....if you dont have any coming in feed some and the same with syrup. I get 75-95 % success depending on weather. Leave 24 hours and put in cell or use a cell protector if you dont wait 24 hrs. Check back in 3-4 weeks and you should have sealed brood from your new queen. No sense checking in two weeks unless you got lots of time. sometimes it takes two weeks for her to mate and lay

[wildbranch2007]

I disagree with Ray somewhat....I use cells to requeen with in a queen right hive with 80+ sucess. I assume the rest of what you said in the previous message was how to make up a nuc. or do you leave the nuc on the old hive to get the old hive requeened?

I've tried all kinds of ways to requeen a queen right hive with queen cells with no success so any suggestions would be great. I can and do requeen by trashing the hive, making multiple nucs and putting queen cells in all nucs and old hive, they believe the old queen is failing and get rid of her, but this ruins the honey production of the old hive also.

mike syracuse

[Michael Palmer]

I've tried all kinds of ways to requeen a queen right hive with queen cells with no success so any suggestions would be great.

Requeening with cells must be done on a good honey flow. The cells should be placed in the honey supers. Use cell protectors.