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Storing unmated queens

2K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  amk 
#1 ·
I had a round of grafts emerge and a couple of the hair roller cages fell off the cells so they got out and are in the builder. I pulled the rest and they have to overnight. Will they be fine if I put them in jzbz cages by themselves or leave in hair roller cages or do they need to be back in the hive?
 
#2 ·
my preference would be to leave them in the cages, in the builder.
I just checked mine tonight... 4 alive, 3 dead, one still twitching a bit, 4 not emerged yet(broke open a cell and she came out ) never had them dead in cages like that, 1st time emerging into JZBZ small hole cages wonder if that had something to do with it... or its just hot/dry/dearth and the fedder on the hive ran out

made a mad dash to the mating yard to place them in the dark, got the crap stung out of me by one of the foam minnys... lol I was in full gear too

on storing them in cages out of the hive
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0050150
 
#4 ·
my preference would be to leave them in the cages, in the builder.
[...]
on storing them in cages out of the hive
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0050150
That paper's an example of a missed opportunity.

It was intended as a comparison study of different types of storage cage etc. - but the BIG difference in survival was due to attendants, not cage type. Attendants will provide (even at the expense of their own bodies) Royal Jelly. Queens need a high protein diet, which is not available from any of the other food sources. Therefore it is (imo) fair to conclude that the presence of attendants - and the more, the better - is essential for the well-being of virgin queens.

This year, I found that virgins fed fondant and/or honey started to 'go off' after 2 days on their own in roller cages following emergence in an incubator. They went on to have a mating success of around 25%, whereas those virgins which were given to nucs within 24 hrs of emergence - and thus would have been given a diet of RJ - had a success rate of near 100%.
LJ
 
#3 ·
amk, when my queens emerge into the hair rollers, I take them out and place them in the JZBZ cages and fill the tubes with fondant. They will stay alive for around three days like this in my experience. I use an incubator to finish the cells so don't know how well they would do in the cell builder.
 
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