[SeaCucumber]

What's the concentration, amount, method, and timing for feeding thin sugar water to this cell starter? Do they need a separate water source? The sugar water is for stimulation. The nectar frames give them more sugar than they can use. Does the process change for flows/dearths or subsequent batches (where you swap the frame of started cells with new grafts)?

example cell starter:

This is made the day before grafting. It cages the bees for 24 hours with the grafts.

frame variables:
n = nectar: We will assume this is thick because there is no thin nectar. 1 of these is 1/4 undrawn.
p = 1/2 pollen, 1/2 empty comb
t = temporary: This has a small amount of larvae, and gets replaced by the grafting frame.

frame order: n, p, t, p, n

 

[Akademee]

Because I am kinda lazy, my starters and finishers are the same hive, I don't deal with separate hives to be starters or finishers. Because of that, resource management I think is a bit easier for me. I feed as much as I can give them, sugar water (1:1 or 2:1), pollen, their own water source, everything, since I want them to want for nothing for the first 7 days of raining my grafts. We also have a summer and fall dearth so we are all feeding anyway.

 

[SeaCucumber]

..

 

[SeaCucumber]

I'm thinking of getting a nuc top feeder with 2 sides (1 for sugar water, 1 for water).

 

[GregB]

So today is August 4th.
Is this still a project for the season 2020?
Getting kinda late for MA, especially if project is still in the research phase.

Like Akademee above, I don't even bother with this complication for my minuscule need of ~10-20 queens.
All you need is a strong queen-less hive with all the provisions already in place and lots of young bees.
Plug in the eggs/young larva of your choice and off you go.