Trasferring queen cells to nucs.

[Mosherd1]

I have a nuc with 5 queen cells in it that they made after they killed the caged queen. I made another nuc up and I will be cutting out one of the queen cells in the original nuc to transfer to the new one. My question is how much wax and how deep should I make the cut to make sure that I do not injure the new queen cell? Just FYI, I frame with the cells has wired wax foundation. Thanks,

[heaflaw]

I cut out 6 QC's this afternoon and transferred them into a nuc each. I will do more tommorrow morning if they haven't emerged by then.

What I did was cut a tall triangle in the frame I transfer them to: about an inch wide at the bottom and 3 inches tall. I cut the QC out as a smaller triangle leaving enough comb above the QC that I can push the triangle up into the triangle hole without touching the QC. It works well for me. Others may have better techniques.

[fish_stix]

Just cut all the way through the foundation; the bees will patch the hole. It's critical to not cut into the cell.

[Mosherd1]

Ok I cut out the cell and transferred it and suspended it between two frames in the new nuc. I did not use a cell protector, the new nuc has been queenless for 24 hrs and I cut out started ueen cells in the receiving nuc. Should I check in a few days and see if they accepted the cell or just wait 2 weeks and look for eggs?

[fish_stix]

You need to check for emergence so you can add another cell if needed. When using bare cells you can just make a depression in a frame with your finger and gently push the cell in, then squeeze a little wax around it to secure it. You need to get some cell protectors! Get both types of JZsBZs protectors, the push in type work great for what you just did. The hanging type are easier to use if you're installing a lot of cells.