# When to harvest queen cells



## gunter62 (Feb 13, 2011)

That's what I do. Move 10 days after graft.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

I'd build my nucs on Sunday and plant the QC's on Monday. 

Several queen rearing calendars exist. Try the search box. I wouldn't try it without one. Mine are laminated and tacked to each starter, finisher, ior the incubator, and I mark in the start date with a grease pen. The laminated calendar travels with the queen cell frame up until splitting up into the nucs.

There is a big master calendar on the wall of the shop.


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## addisonw (Sep 29, 2012)

Excellent idea with the calendar.


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## Steve Johnson (Apr 25, 2012)

Best calendar on the internet. Just put in the date you graft and boom....print it out.

http://www.thebeeyard.org/queen-rearing-calendar/


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## marshmasterpat (Jun 26, 2013)

Steve Johnson said:


> Best calendar on the internet. Just put in the date you graft and boom....print it out.


This is nice. 

Thank you Mr. Johnson for posting this.


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## Alexander co (Dec 6, 2013)

That calendar is a very good one, but needs a condition. You must to be sure, about the first day-life of larvae. From this time, you can count the 12-th day. From my experience , the 11-th day is to soon. The pupae are very sensitive. This may causes many damages.


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

gunter62 said:


> That's what I do. Move 10 days after graft.


I agree. We typically incubate them about 250 hours post grafting and install them from 260 to 270 hours after grafting. One should take this calendar as a good guideline but exact gestational numbers and real world application can be two different things. I find emergence typically can begin as early as 264 hours 11 full days) after grafting and will continue over the next 36 hours depending on incubation temps and the exact age of the grafting larvae.


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## deknow (Jul 17, 2006)

We had very good luck working with cells 48 hour post graft. Before 72 hours, they are just eating machines, and they should have plenty of food in the cell by then.

In another thread, joe latshaw reported 25% mated/laying queens from 48 hour cells shipped without attendants...I always transport them with attendants.

This way, the mating nuc is also the finisher. Sam Comfort was planting 2 48 hour cells in each making nuc, then harvests one ripe one and leaves the other.

Not better than waiting for ripe cells, just a different approach with different pros and cons.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

Jim Lyon -
Excellent post! On the point and specific as you can get.  Your numbers 260 hours / 270 hours are during Day 11, unless you number the graft as Day Zero so hour 240 ends Day 9. I like that better - graft hour is Hour Zero. It confuses some of my friends, though.

Also - I mark notes on the laminated calendar with a grease pen as the season progresses. I'm trying to find several colors to code hive-specific calendars to the master calendar. These are the working, follower calendars that get tacked to the Cell Raiser hives - the "official" calendar is the paper one in the office, though.


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## Broke-T (Jul 9, 2008)

You also have to take season into account. I start grafting in March and quit late June. As the temp increases the cells will emerge sooner.

Johnny


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## jim lyon (Feb 19, 2006)

kilocharlie said:


> Jim Lyon -
> Excellent post! On the point and specific as you can get.  Your numbers 260 hours / 270 hours are during Day 11, unless you number the graft as Day Zero so hour 240 ends Day 9. I like that better - graft hour is Hour Zero. It confuses some of my friends, though.
> 
> Also - I mark notes on the laminated calendar with a grease pen as the season progresses. I'm trying to find several colors to code hive-specific calendars to the master calendar. These are the working, follower calendars that get tacked to the Cell Raiser hives - the "official" calendar is the paper one in the office, though.


We have our own system of counting days but to save the day 1 or day 0 confusion it seemed to make more sense to just break it down into hours for clarity.


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## Alexander co (Dec 6, 2013)

This calendar from thebeeyard.org sais without any doubt: the harvest of queen cells must be done in the 12th day of grafting,the day 1, beeing the grafting day. About my experience, if the harvesting is done in the 11th day, it may causes, abuot 50 more % casualties. But,to be sure, this obligatory implies, grafted larvae aged under 24 hours.


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