In message <[log in to unmask]>, Peter Borst <[log in to unmask]> writes >If workers moved eggs with any regularity then they would certainly >find it easy enough to go to a hive a few feet away and get eggs. Sorry I have not seen the earlier correspondence but I have seen a completely new queen cell made in a split hived above its parent colony on a clean division board where there was *no* cell (not even an empty cup) after the split was made. I have seen other queen cells develop where there were none and when the queen was not present and where the main queen cells being produced were emergency cells. I can only presume that workers do remove eggs into queen cups when they want to, instead of leaving them in ordinary worker cells to make emergency cells. I have a hunch (as I have not recorded the detailed dates) that workers may bring a cooled egg into play. Colleagues have reported queen cells being produced after all eggs should have hatched, i.e., more than 3 days after a swarm left or a split was made. I will look out carefully for evidence and report it. -- James Kilty