Queen cells

[BeeBo]

Can anyone point me to some good pictures of queen cells in sequential stages of development, please? Having trouble deciding whether they are harmless cups, empty (as in queen developed and gone), about to change into swarm cells or even just a distorted worker cell.
They are roundish with an open bottom end, not much deeper than a normal cell. Only a two or three.
No other obvious signs of swarming.
Trying not to panic!

 

[Black Comb]

Sound like play cups.
The thing that matters is what is inside them. Once you see fluid in there then they have started queen rearing.
Sometimes you see eggs, but these are often removed by the workers.
It is when they decide to develop one or some of those eggs and start feeding royal jelly that you need to take action.

 

[Beauhawk]

Can anyone point me to some good pictures of queen cells in sequential stages of development, please? Having trouble deciding whether they are harmless cups, empty (as in queen developed and gone), about to change into swarm cells or even just a distorted worker cell.
They are roundish with an open bottom end, not much deeper than a normal cell. Only a two or three.
No other obvious signs of swarming.
Trying not to panic!

Take a look here and good luck.

http://www.wbka.com/images/education/a012queencells.pdf

 

[Jeff Buzz]

Here is one from yesterday you can see white royal jelly in the bottom and just make out the larvae floating in it.
I also had in other hives loads of play cells not charged so just left them.

 

[drstitson]

a play cup is like the base of an acorn AND will be EMPTY.
egg or jelly = QC starting.

fully developed, empty and queen gone? how long are you leaving between inspections?????????

a sealed queen cell is exactly that. a QC that is sealed.

an emerged queen cell will either have a flap at the top or just a brownish rim.

 

[theboynelson]

Jeff Buzz

That is a great photo, displays it really nicely. Thanks for sharing

 

[beeno]

Hi Jeff Buzz,
Nice photos - can see how fluffy the new nurse bees are!

 

[keith pierce]

different stages

Current Attachments (10.06 MB)
jpg.gif q 025.jpg (2.23 MB

 

[keith pierce]

some more

View attachment 8509

View attachment 8510

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View attachment 8512

 

[Swarm]

Yet again, Keith, your photos are superb and should help anyone unsure of what they are looking for.

 

[MuswellMetro]

Had to remove quite a few QC yesterday, slightly manic day, now making up more 14x12 boxes for next inspections

and yes for the keen eyed that is a virgin queen

 

[galileo]

Nice image Jeff... I'd have overlooked that as a drone cell on account of its orientation.

 

[drstitson]

"I'd have overlooked that as a drone cell on account of its orientation."

a drone cell is just a slightly wider cell with more pronounced domed rather than almost flat capping. NOT a cup projecting from the comb.

see pic 5 from keith for nice drone cells.

 

[Jeff Buzz]

Definitely not a drone cell I have just been back and done a A/S on hive and it was nearly fully formed.
Amazing how quick they move when they decide to go for it.

 

[galileo]

Aye, thanks drstitson/Jeff - the learned lesson is that I'm going to be more careful when checking for the blighters. Other than emergency QCs, I've only ever seen them vertically oriented.

 

[clv101]

Had to remove quite a few QC yesterday, slightly manic day, now making up more 14x12 boxes for next inspections

and yes for the keen eyed that is a virgin queen

It seems a waste to removed charged/sealed QC like this. Can anything be done with them? How likely are they to survive if cut out carefully and put into mini-mating nucs? How robust are queen cells? Do they die if they cool down for a few minutes?

 

[biglongdarren]

i raised and had mated somewhere shy of 20 queens last year by cutting out queen cells and making up mating nucs with them, works great for me and all the queens at the minute laying very well.
i have kept queen cells for a good while after cutting them out by wrapping them well and setting a hot water bottle close to them in transit.
Darren

 

[clv101]

i raised and had mated somewhere shy of 20 queens last year by cutting out queen cells and making up mating nucs with them, works great for me and all the queens at the minute laying very well.
i have kept queen cells for a good while after cutting them out by wrapping them well and setting a hot water bottle close to them in transit.
Darren

That sounds good. What's the process? I've recently read this document about mini-nucs:
http://www.buzzybeeshop.co.uk/resources/mininuc-instructions.pdf
Does this sound reasonable from your experience? How do you 'mount' the cut out queen cells in the mini-nuc? How do you stop the bees you've put in the mini-nuc just flying back to the hive they came from? What do you feed them on and how much do they eat?

 

[biglongdarren]

i pick through the sealed queen cells on the frame and any that are in the middle of the frame and not attached to the outside edge or has wire running behind the cell i use. i cut around them taking maybe an inch circle of drawn wax with them.
i then take a thin strand of copper wire and wrap it around my finger three or four turns to make a cup that the queen cell can sit down into,making sure when the queen hatches no wire is in her way to block her coming out.
then i load my mating hive with bees and hang the queen cell between the middle frames, feed them with some syrup and close them up for three days in a dark cool place, after that i let them out and let them get on with it, all being well the queen is usually mated and laying in a few weeks.
Darren.

 

[itma]

... i cut around them taking maybe an inch circle of drawn wax with them.
...
then i load my mating hive with bees and hang the queen cell between the middle frames, feed them with some syrup and close them up for three days in a dark cool place, after that i let them out and let them get on with it, all being well the queen is usually mated and laying in a few weeks.
Darren.

I think some do it that way, but the standard mini-nuc advice is to load with baby bees and food, leave for the three dark days (misting occasionally), and only then load the QC.

That it can be done either way indicates that the process isn't too detail-critical!

I know of someone who doesn't even select baby bees - he just takes his loaded mini-nucs 3 miles away ...