Tom Barrett asked about introducing ripe queen cells into colonies that may
occur in standard hives.  Tom, the ways and means of using queen cells can
depend on the resources available to you at the time.  Once you have seen a
cell, it is unmistakable.  When making preparation for swarming bees will
make play cells which protrude in the same manner as a queen cell but are
thick celled and never have any larvae.
FWIW
 
>I am a first year beekeeper. I have come across procedures in beekeeping
>books which call for introducing ripe queen cells into colonies. I cannot
>recall having seen a procedure for actually doing this.
 
The larvae is easily damaged in the early stages of pupation.  It is helpful
if you know when the cell is sealed so that you can move it within 2 days
before the  virgin queen emerges as this is minimal risk.  Please note that
in hot weather the queen can emerge in 15 days from egg laying and on one
occasion I lifted cells on the 14th day to find a virgin just on her way out.
 
One way of transferring to a colony is to remove the whole frame with brood
and bees that the cell is on to the nucleus.  The field bees will return to
the original hive (unless you move it 2 miles) but enough nurse bees will
remain with the brood to nurture the queen.
 
Another way is to carry a sharp pocket knife and physically cut out sealed
cells as you come across them in hive inspection.  These must be reinserted
in a colony the same day and kept free of vibration since it is difficult to
tell what stage they have reached. A match box is a good temporary storage.
Cut well around the cell (sacrifice brood as necessary) and then push the
cell slightly into a well populated frame of brood and bees.  Unsealed honey
cells around the brood give good adhesion but it is important that there are
enough bees to keep the cell warm.
 
Always check the colonies 14 days after you expect the queen to hatch. If
you check too early you may see a virgin queen (she is usually pretty quick
on her feet) but they are a bit flighty and it is best to wait until she has
had her mating flights and returned so you can check that the laying pattern
is satisfactory.  Some mating flights fail due to lack of drones of the
right age and the queen will be a drone layer.  This will not become evident
for 2 weeks when the brood is sealed.
 
There are a number of good books on queen breeding and experience is also a
great teacher.
 
Betty McAdam
 
 
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