# Queen cell protectors



## Ohiobeek (Sep 14, 2010)

I am getting ready in a few weeks to try the punch cell method for raising some queens. I have decided on the wide base JZBZ cups over the Nicot mostly for a cost factor. My ultimate goal is to overwinter Nucs with another batch of queens from this summer. I am nervous about my timing calculations. Is there a cage I can slip over a finished queen cell in a JZBZ cup, in case my calculations are messed up? I hate to go through all that work and find only one queen that killed off the others. My first couple of times I would like to protect the queen cells and make sure I completely understand the correct size larvae to use and have a solid understanding of when to pull queens out. Thanks for any help!


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## gmeadevt (Mar 7, 2012)

I have a similar question and was getting ready to post it, but I'll add it here as it is very similar. I too plan on raising queens using JZBZ cups. I hope to allow half of them to emerge and then introduce them as virgins and possibly give a few to other beekeepers. From asking around most beekeepers would be OK with virgin queens, but not quite ready for using queen cells. This would allow me to produce more queens as mating nucs will be a limiting factor for me. I've inquired with a couple of people and haven't found a solid answer yet. I've been thinking about constructing some sort of wood and screen device that would allow the queens to emerge. I envision a block of wood with holes drilled to accommodate the cell holder, this would lead into a larger drilled out (2" hole saw) chamber perpendicular to the cell holder hole. Cover it with screen or #8 hardware cloth. The day after they emerge go ahead and put them in a standard queen holder and your all set. Of course the hive you have these in will need to set up to handle this, i.e. queen excluder with queen below, and frames of emerging you bees among the emerging virgin queens

At least that's the plan...I'd love to hear what others are doing and see pictures.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Check online at Honeyrun Apiaries for queen cell emerging cages. You can build them yourself easy enough. I make the holes in each cage the exact size to hold a JZsBZs cell protector and the virgins can't muscle their way out.


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## Broke-T (Jul 9, 2008)

I have tried using the JZBZ cell protectors and found that they are not big enough. The only cells that fit I consider undersized.

Has anyone else seen this?

Johnny


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

There are several styles of JZs BZs queen cell protectors --> 








shipping,








push-in

and








hanging.

Which style are you referring to?


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## Ohiobeek (Sep 14, 2010)

I think Broke-T is referring to depth. It doesn't matter which cage, they don't have the depth. Once you slip the cage over the cell, there is not enough room for the queen to emerge from the cell. I will call Honey Run Apiaries today and talk to Tim and see what he has to say. I have talked to 3 different bee suppliers and they are all unsure themselves. I am probably on a million dollar idea, and here I am giving it away on a forum! LOL


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

I think you are looking for something like a hair roller cage. I don't think anyone makes one that fits JZ BZ cups though.


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## gmeadevt (Mar 7, 2012)

After poking around on Honeyrun Apiaries I found this, which looks like it would do the job nicely.

http://www.honeyrunapiaries.com/store/nursery-frame-p-242.html

I suppose an enterprising beekeeper with a table saw, drill and #8 hardware cloth could construct one themselves.


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## Velbert (Mar 19, 2006)

What you can do to get on track on how old your larva graft was when grafted
Check grafts at day 2,3,4, just raise the graft bar up and if you find sealed queen cells at say day 3 you know your larva was older than you should have from egg lay to sealed is 8 days so if sealed on day 3 your larva was 2 days old if on day 2 it was sealed it was 3 days old mark them on you cell bar and pull these first or i would cull them those that are sealed on day 4 is what you are needing.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Dr. Russell gave me this idea, it works quite well:

If this thread is about having the queen cells emerge into temporary holding/introduction cages, then I do that sometimes, when my mating Nuc holes aren't yet vacant, or whenever I've raised more cells than I can immediately use. I use the California Mini Cages (CMC), placed on a frame designed to hold them in row(s). The single hole in the top of the CMC can accommodate just about any queen cell that hasn't been embellished with too much extra beeswax (and extra beeswax can be gently removed). Of course the CMCs are used without the plastic tubes. All you need to do is gently push the tip of the cell into the wooden hole of the cage opening, very little of the cell actually needs to fit. It only needs to fit well enough that it won't be easily dislodged from the cage. It works best if you wait until the bees have removed the wax from the cell tip, before placing them into the cage openings.

It looks like -->








I originally used three wires to hold the cells in the frame, two behind and one in front, but later replaced the back two wires with a wide, flat, piece of wood, a lath strip.


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## gmeadevt (Mar 7, 2012)

Joseph, That's a exactly what I was asking about. I suppose you just need to be fairly careful when you place the queen cell in the opening. Too much pressure and you could damage the queen. How long do leave the virgin queens alone before handling? Do the nurse bees in the hive keep them well feed until you get them in mating nucs?


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## Broke-T (Jul 9, 2008)

The hanging ones are the ones I tried. The are not big enough in diameter. The nice big cells will not go down in them.

Johnny


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Every queen producer I know uses the JZsBZs cell protectors, mostly the hanging type, orange color. Never had any trouble getting cells into them but some are a little tight. If the cells have too much wax buildup you can use a utility knife or sharp pocketknife and trim the cell a little.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I have several thousand of the JZBZ cell protectors. I never use them... if they really want to tear down the cell that badly they will kill the queen when she emerges anyway. If you feed them or there is a flow, tearing down cells isn't a problem.


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## fish_stix (May 17, 2009)

Maybe so, but it sure is a convenient way to place cells when you have a bunch of them to do as for requeening, nucs, etc. Open the box, stick the cell protector between two frames and close the lid, done!


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## Matt Beekman (Dec 15, 2007)

I just think of them more as queen cell hangers than protectors. The fact that I can place a tremendous amount of cells in a short period of time is reason enough for me. Has anyone had success reusing them?


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## kjbann (Jun 30, 2009)

I would like to try the bank Joseph Clemens shows above. The problem is I can't find a source for California mini cages other than to buy 1250 from Koehnen. I thought Russell Apiaries was going to have them, but the last I checked, they don't.

I bought some of the Nicot style hair rollers with the plan to make some wooden adapters using 3/4" dowel rod to fit JZBZ cups. This requires a little lathe work, but I only need a few. Adapter dimensions would be about .65" od x 7/16" id x 7/16" long. If 11/16 dowel rod is available, that od might work as is.
Ken


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

Odd that JZ BZ doesn't have this product. If there is enough demand I have access to a CAD/CAM carving machine that could bang out thousands of end caps that fit JZBZ cells. Just a thought.


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## gmeadevt (Mar 7, 2012)

You can buy the California mini cages from MannLake by the 100. http://www.mannlakeltd.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=page48#!productInfo/9/


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## kjbann (Jun 30, 2009)

gmeadevt
Thanks. They weren't in the 2011 catalog and I must not have looked in 2012 yet. That's a good price.
Ken


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