# my queens



## droneman (Feb 19, 2003)

when you find a frame with queen cells can you cut out cells and put in little nuk box with brood and bees or are cells to delicate to be moved


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

The only problem with cutting them out and moving them, is you don't know how far along they are. If you move them when they are too small you could damage them. They can be damaged easily anyway. Also, if you put a queen cell in a queenless nuc with no protector they bees may just tear the cell apart. They didn't put it there so they think it doesn't belong. If you know it's about a day from hatching and you put a cell protector on it it should do fine. If you don't, you could just try taking the frame with the queen cell and a frame of emerging brood and a the bees shaken off of a frame or two in a nuc with some empty foundation and see if they finish the queen. That would proably work better. Then the bees on that frame DID put the cell there and the emerging ones go along with whatever is going on.


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## James Burke (Feb 4, 2002)

In regards to the age of the cell, keep a close watch on the bottom (where the queen emerges). As queen nears the time to hatch, the bees will make the cell bottom area thinner with the appearance of a brown paper bag. If you gently touch it, it has some "give" unlike the mottled wax cell it once was. I've even heard queens in my incubator chewing quite loudly just before emerging.

I'm with Mike...try to keep the cells where they are until you absolutely need to move them out. Don't wait too late, however, or you will run the risk of destroyed cells. I remember opening one of my cell finishers only to find nearly a dozen queens on the loose! I rescued most of them, but found it difficult to introduce virgins into mating nucs...they fare much better if allowed to hatch into the nucs. 
I have heard instances of beekeepers placing the queens back into the cells and covering the opening with wax and allowing her to re-emerge into the nuc. 

Hope your season is enjoyable,

Regards,

Jim Littley

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http://www.emeraldridgeapiary.net


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## droneman (Feb 19, 2003)

learn something new every day thanks


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## Hook (Jun 2, 2002)

I hear you Jim. I had the same thing happen to me. Nine queens emerged nearly at the same time. The started destroying the others before I opened the finisher. That is the big reason I built an incubator. This way, I can cage them before emergence, then put them into mating nucs. I figure a drop of honey, mixed with pollen for food, since queens gorge themselves once loose from their cells. 
But, you can move them, like Jim said, once the end is thin. Its something you must see firsthand, to understand. But, you can do the math, and figure out when they theorectically "should" emerge, and then move them into nucs. I have done that with success, but if you lack the proper timing, on that particular day, it can be disasterous, especially waiting 16 days till your "kids" hatch!

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Dale Richards
Dal-Col Apiaries
Drums, PA


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## Dee A. Lusby (Oct 4, 2000)

when you find a frame with queen cells can you cut out cells and put in little nuk box with brood and bees or are cells to delicate to be moved

Reply:
Advice I read above given is very good for putting queen cells in another colony. 

Another thing you might to do to prevent chewing down of cells on your frame where cells are, and to also see what you got, if you want to get picky and select, is to take some #8 mesh screening. Then make some small rectanglar or square push in cages about 3/4 inch high with overall diameter about 1" by 2" and simply push over the cells on frame if you can, individually seperating each queen cell. 

Then simply let the virgins emerge in the push in cages on the frame. Then when out simply take and smoke hive good you are putting the queen in and close it up. This way you get a moving target and know the queen is physically in good shape.

Regards,

Dee A. Lusby


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