When is the best time to cull all emergency queen cells, I AS'd Saturday and the larva was about 3 day or 6days from laying. I'm sure I've read somewhere about two days before emergance,
Thanks once again for info it's good for us beginners
If your chosen QC is not yet sealed (that's definitely best), then you should have more than 8 days before Q emerges and you start to leave strictly alone for mating flights. /// Late clarification - you should be choosing a cell that is big and well-filled, looking just about ready for capping, so you ain't got much more than 8 days...
Ideally, you should be going in after 7 or 8 days (ie as late as possible before the chosen princess emerges). (7 is the same day of the week as you started, so should work for the beekeeper.)
Why 7?
Well there's no Q in there, so no new eggs.
After 7 days, the last egg that Q laid will be a 4 day old larva (having spent 3 days as an egg).
Everything else will be older.
So, if you eliminate all other QCs on day 7, that means that the best the bees could start a new cell with would be a 4 day old larva. However, with your chosen cell due to emerge in only another day or so, they shouldn't bother with that pretty futile exercise. A 5 day old larva (day 8) is never going to become an emergency QC, but day 8 is awful close to princess emergence from your chosen cell.
If you are keeping one of the original QCs, there is no point in any other cull than that late-as-possible one.
It is however different if you are playing at serious Q rearing and need to know the cell age more precisely - and only want a new Q that has been fed since larva day 1 with Royal Jelly. That's where a day 4 QC selection and knockdown (of absolutely all
sealed cells and all unchosen open ones) is needed, followed 8 days later by a cull of any others that have been subsequently started as emergency cells from older larvae.
Queen Cells present one occasion where you MUST inspect at the correct time - regardless of the weather and everything else.
Don't shake or bump frames with chosen QCs. But do brush the bees off that frame to reveal any other QCs.
Very important to mark that frame so you can be specially careful around it.
But ALL other brood frames NEED to be shaken clear of bees to allow you to see and cull ALL the unwanted QCs.
Eliminate ALL the other QCs and thereby avoid surprises.