# Selling Queen Cells - Questions



## s1sweetser (Aug 9, 2013)

I always graft more queens than I have mating nucs. Sometimes I have great graft acceptance and have way too many cells. I end up putting 2 cells in each nuc, then I still have some left over. Next season, I was thinking about selling the xtra cells to the local folks via craigslist. What do you think for price? I was thinking $10/each.
Also, what about transport? Should I rig something for the customer? Maybe hard styrofoam with some holes bored to place the queen cells. I am in the deep south so I don't think that chilling will be an issue. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0QQBha8Xig


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## ruthiesbees (Aug 27, 2013)

$10 seems to be the going price (seen it a couple times on various websites). My queens are not grafted (made from emergency queen cells), so this method may not work for you, but I can cut off the queen cells with additional beeswax comb (no foundation) and then use a bread twist tie to attach it to a piece of plastic needlework mesh. The mesh can be bent to "stand up" in a mason jar or solo cup to transfer the queen cells to the customer (with coffee paper filter top held on by rubberband in case the queen should hatch enroute)


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## Specialkayme (Sep 4, 2005)

It's been a few years (like 5) since I bought a cell from someone else, so I might be out of the times, but last I checked the going rate was about $5 a cell. That's from local breeders who do it for a living. If you can get more, have at it though.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

If you sell them at ten I will sell mine to your customers at 8.50 ( delivered ups overnight air include on lots of 200 or more) and still make over $3.00 beyond the standard rate. If I could get $5 for all the cells we could produce( pick up price) I would gladly can all the other bee work and shift to a scheme whereby I would buy bulk bees from other beeks and graft for 5 or 6 weeks a year. The profit margin on 1000 cells a day over a six day a week schedule would be sweet from a time off perspective... Cells are easy....... All the other bee work is what will kill a guy....


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## s1sweetser (Aug 9, 2013)

Lol. Simmer down honey 4 all. I'm not going to be selling batches of 200 and my customers won't be buying batches of 200. My rate of $10 at pick up for 1 or 2 cells will still be cheaper than your 8.50 + the ridiculous cost of overnight shipping. I did not mean to give the impression that I was some commercial guy selling boatloads of bees. I am going to be selling them on craigslist and we are talking about maybe 30 cells per year. 
Specialkayme your advice was helpful and I'll keep it in mind.


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## s1sweetser (Aug 9, 2013)

Ruthiesbees thanks for the pic.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I sometimes buy cells (VP VSH breeder q) from a local queen producer for $5 picked up. If they were $10 I would be WAY better off just buying queens when you consider everything.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

One or two at a shot. Price them at $12.50 and see who bites.


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## s1sweetser (Aug 9, 2013)

Honey-4-all, then I would have to keep a roll of quarters in my truck to make change.


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## Honey-4-All (Dec 19, 2008)

If you end up using pre 64 silver for the change on your golden cells let me know. Might even buy a couple myself. 

I know the pricing on stuff in the south is a lot lower than here on the left coast but I would advise you to keep the pricing commiserate to the time that those ones and twos will cost you in time. Many folks buying that many know little about bees and are more than willing to take your time to build their knowledge base. Not against doing that just advising you to charge accordingly.


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

I use those little 50 ml alcoholic beverage bottles - the drunks leave plenty of them along the bike trail near my bee yard, so they're free. I heat a metal tube with a torch an burn a hole for a cork to go in the bottom, and a hole for some #8 hardware cloth to ventilate along the side. My friends named them "bee bongs" ha ha.

My Queen cell bars are drilled for golf tees, to which I attach my queen cell cups. The golf tees stick into the corks, and they fit nicely into the bottles for the incubator, for transport, or for sale. Keeps them from fighting each other.


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

Have two tier pricing if you are worried about spending too much time on singles. I agree that $5 singles are not worth messing with, but if you had a routine where you could sell 20 or so at a time - even if it was to several people - every Saturday morning during the season...


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## My-smokepole (Apr 14, 2008)

Two inch foam with a hole drill in it works good.


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## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

IF you have lots of experience making cells, evaluating the performance of the resulting queens, AND you have really excellent stock, then maybe $10/cell would be reasonable. When I say excellent stock, at minimum the cells would come from an II breeder queen, or a colony that has many years of proven performance.

If you have a couple years beekeeping experience, a colony that has survived a winter or two, then any extra cells could be gifted to your bee club friends.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

So often on Beesource, I see threads that come to a definitive answer without addressing many facts that consider significant variables. $3.00 cells or $10.00 cells? What can be the difference? 

-First of all, the difference between a commercial operation that is involved in volume sales is very different from a the backyard or small acreage hobbyist or sideliner. The customer service will be more lengthy with smaller sales. 

-Selling a single queen cell will likely take up _at least_ a half hour of the sellers time. Folks are lucky to have a local queen producer and can take advantage of a product that is time and temperature sensitive. Most people need a bit of instruction. 

-As with any live animal product, the pedigree/quality dictates the price of the service. If I have a stallion that has world champion pedigree and has accomplishments of his own, his stud fee will of course be higher that a local stallion of generally average breeding. Same goes for queen cells. If I purchased a cell from a breeder with a good reputation/good program for queen rearing I'd be happy to pay more for a potential quality product. I paid $25. each for virgins from VP queens this spring. Considering all their time and investment to establish a quality product, I was happy to pay that and was really a little surpised they were that cheap. 

- _Genetics are important_.

There are times when a mated queen just won't do or is a poor investment on the part of the buyer. 
"I think I am queenless...no brood and scattered drone cells in the hive"

These are just some of the calls I get where I suggest a capped queen cell instead of a full price mated queen purchase. 
A hatch /VS destroyed cell. A mated queen would likely have been killed if released in that colony. 










Every year I get more people to try capped queen cells for colonies of unknown status or economical increases. . It's not the price they are afraid of, but the unknown factor of handling a cell. They are programmed to think only a mated queen is a safe choice.

I sell mine for $10.00 each, with a volume discount over 20. I also charge an additional $2.00 refundable deposit if they want to take the roller cage.

Transport:

I purchased some JZBZ cell protectors a couple years ago and found they were not necessary to use when placing cells. I've Had the bag sitting around forever. This year I used them at times for easy cell transport so folks don't have to take my roller cages. If used with JZBZ cell cups I taped the cell to the top of the protector. If I used the grid, I wiggled out the brown cell up out of the yellow cup holder and dropped it in the orange cell protector. Those component parts are expensive and can't let them dribble away here and there.










When I remove my cells from the finisher hives and place in the incubator, I scrutinize all cells and discard any that are below average. (Size of the cell is not the deciding factor) As with my own cell placement, I only sell or place the best cells after candling. Smaller cells are actually easier to candle. Any cells that are questionable are left to hatch out in the incubator for further evaluation before placing.

Although folks like the longer bigger cells, I compare it to a bag of potato chips. If the bag is large but half full, it is better than a smaller bag that is full? It's just human nature to want the larger package.










My queen cells come with a hatch guarantee. (NOT a mated return guarantee) If the cell did not hatch they can return it for a replacement. I know what my hatch rate is and will know it the cell was mishandled on their end. I've never had to replace a single cell to this date.

For 1 or 2 cells, some folks will hold them in their shirt pocket or ladies in their cleavage. LOL, don't laugh, it is really a good temp and works. 
If the outside temps are cool and transport time is long, a disposable hand warmer in a insulated lunch pail works perfectly. 
The dollar store carries oasis floral foam for $1.00 You can push the roller cage or cell protectors right into the soft foam for easy upright transport. Orange JZBZ cell protectors also fit loosely in a battery strip as sold for queen rearing at most bee supplys.

Virgin queen and queen cells are one of the most under utilized resources in beekeeping. In some cases, they are a much better choice than a mated queen. Don't forget the additional benefit of a broodbreak that _may_ be much needed for mite control.

The only time I discourage their use is if the quality of drones and genetics in their area is poor, if they have a good colony and accidently killed the queen and it is too late in the season for a brood break, etc. There ARE times when a mated queen is the best choice.

That's my opinion on a price breakdown for capped queen cells. Not to forget your cost of living in your area and state. Minimum wage in Washington State is now over $15.00 in many areas. My prices reflect what my costs are locally.

Here is a sample of what I carry in my pocket or pouch on many days in the bee yard. Capped queen cells in roller cage to keep upright, , hatched and marked virgin queens in roller cage for direct release, virgin queen in smaller cage for delayed release with candy and a collected mated queen with attendants for customer pick up later in the day. If temps are cool a small disposable hand warmer in the pocket keep cells and queens comfortable. Understanding how to use them all for different situations will give you the _best result_ at the most _economical_ price.



















An additional handy pouch to keep all my pockets from overflowing




























I hope this thread is informative and will encourage those that may want to make increases next season to consider using capped cells. They are a fantastic, economical way to requeen with virtually no acceptance difficulties and in some cases, additional benefits mated queens cannot provide.


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

A piece of scotch tape over the top keep the cells more secure for the ride home.


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## oldiron56 (Mar 9, 2009)

Lauri, do you have a pic of a cell protector ( orange) with a cell in it ?,,,,,,,Pete


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## Lauri (Feb 1, 2012)

oldiron56 said:


> Lauri, do you have a pic of a cell protector ( orange) with a cell in it ?,,,,,,,Pete



I do not. Already looked on my camera for one.
I'm done for the season and don't have any cells available for a photo.

These were nice though. For the inexperienced, they could transport the cell home and just push the cell protector into the frame of comb. No actual need for them to handle the cell itself.

These cell protectors are cheap..about $9.00 for a bag of 100.


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## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Pete, how about these. Lauri, how could you miss the best part of stuffing these over sized cells in.
Perhaps I can improvise a bit. I'll even use the bigger hair roller CP (cell protector) if the cell is too
big to fit in.


Orange cell protector with a cell in each:


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## oldiron56 (Mar 9, 2009)

That was why I ask BP, I have yet to see a cell fit in the ones I have, I had to carve down the sides of the cells to get them to fit in them. I wanted to see some of Lauri`s nice cells crammed into one lol. I used mabe three out of my bag of 100, I thought they were useless, or mabe I have a smaller size,mine have the one spike sticking out one side. When half of the cell is sticking out of the top they don`t protect much. Thanx for the replies, keep those pic coming Lauri. Iv`e gleaned a lot of tips from them,,,,,,,,,,,,,Pete


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## David LaFerney (Jan 14, 2009)

I kinda like those cell protectors - they make it really easy to place the cell where you want it without a lot of damage to the comb, even if the cell doesn't fit all the way down. It would help if JZBS stuff had some instructions.


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## drlonzo (Apr 15, 2014)

Lauri said:


> > hatched and marked virgin queens in roller cage for direct release.


Lauri - Question about this specific comment. It seems that everyone has their own way of doing things, but "popular wisdom" from the past tells beeks NOT to mark the virgin queens, to wait till after her mating flights and she has started laying. I'm aware that beekeeping is an art that is ever changing, and to me there could be MANY upsides to the process of marking prior to mating, however, it makes me wonder.

My questions to you is simply this: What is your personal acceptance rate of these queens? Do you have a good return from mating on these queens that are marked prior to mating?

By the way, I love your photos and all the great information you share.


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## Bees of SC (Apr 12, 2013)

Good question, I have always marked after mating but would like to mark before..


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

Hey guys - egg cartons work great - 5 cells to the egg hole


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## Bees of SC (Apr 12, 2013)

I like that. cheap ..


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## sakhoney (Apr 3, 2016)

And another thing - 10$ cells - I paid 5$ this year - this was just about my limit - if they go up more than that - I will be selling them myself. Queen cells are not brain surgery. Looks like I'm going to be gearing up quit differently for next spring. to heck handling honey supers - queens & nucs look like the way to go.


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## rniles (Oct 10, 2012)

I've never seen $5 cells here in western Wasington - $10 seems to be the norm. Very fond of queen cells. Very high acceptance rate and take up less resources than getting queens mated and laying for a good period.


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