[amk]

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?

 

[msl]

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

 

[JWPalmer]

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.

 

[little_john]

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

 

[amk]

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.

Did you buy an incubator or make one? I’ve been wanting to get one but the cost has always slowed me down.