Plastic Queen Cups

[ROACHMAN]

Im going to try raising some of my own queens this year.

I need to make a queen rearing frame first but which are the best cups to use?

Ive looked at a couple of websites, is it possible to use the Cupkit ones without using the whole kit, what about the Jenter ones ?

These are some cheap ones on the bay but they seem to be one piece that press into pre drilled holes in the frame bar, doesnt look very serure to me!

P.S I dont want the hassle of making my own cups out of wax.

James

 

[Poly Hive]

They work fine.

The wax ones do have the advantage you can push a metal grafting tool into the wax to ease off the grub.

PH

 

[Scutellator]

My opinion is that the Nicot cell cups are as good as the artificial ones made of wax. I can't notice any difference in the acceptance of the cells or the quality of the young queens.

 

[iand]

Im going to try raising some of my own queens this year.

is it possible to use the Cupkit ones without using the whole kit, ?

James

Yes, no need for the queen cage, unless you have difficulty in seeing to graft.
I use the brown cell bar blocks fixed to a frame top bar, along with the cup holders and a supply of cups. The hair roller cages are useful if you don't want a stray virgin to create havoc, but these use up quite a bit of space.

 

[fatshark]

The JzBz ones are simply pushed into a hole drilled in the frame bar ... I then add a little melted wax around them to keep them secure. Works well.

 

[birchdale]

Ecroyd in NZ sell boilable Bozi cups for about 10p each and bars to put them on for about £1.20. See website for details. Not sure if they would send to UK.
Bought mine when I lived there and have used them for some years now. CHEAP stuff in NZ! I have thought about shipping stuff but never got round to it.

 

[beebreeder]

I buy all my stuff from Buzzybee shop, all nicot cupkit parts are available and you can buy a pack of ten of each component or buy multiples of individual parts, they are also very helpfull

 

[ROACHMAN]

cupkit

Thanks for the replies.

I bought 10 cupkit cells, im only going to experiment this coming season, I only need a maximum of 3 queens this year.