My thanks to all who responded to Allen's submission of my dud queen cell
question. Time for me to quit watching from the shadows of cyberspace and
clarify some questions that have come up.

First off Bob, I consider my bees to now be survivor stock resulting from (a
painful process)  natural selection but also realize that genetic input
would be beneficial and necessary for the long haul. I tried to get some
Purvis queens but you would not believe the red tape involved in the
Canadian border opening to U- S queen imports. All U-S breeders that were
contacted were not willing to get DNA (AHB) testing along with all the other
inspection requirements...perhaps a story for some future post.

Frames are rotated on a regular basis and an awful pile of them were junked
after my huge losses. One of the silver linings in the black cloud of losses
I guess.

I should clarify that of the 20% that are not viable, some (most) have been
cleaned out but some remain capped over but with brown tips. You do have a
point though that when finding them in a 6 frame mating nuc, it would be a
sign of non hygienic behaviour. However, these nucs are made up from
colonies that are completely dismantled(four or five nucs per colony)
because of undesirable traits with the prospect of future colonies headed by
a better queens. In addition, the colonies used as starters and finishers
are not the same stock as my breeder - perhaps this is a mistake on my part.
My stock consists of Italians and Carniolans originating from Australia, New
Zealand and Hawaii with some from a breeder in Quebec who selects for, among
other things, hygienic behaviour. It has been a few years since I have
purchased queens and am having better results(luck?) with my own. I look
forward to trying your test.

In regards to your questions Alden, there was a surplus of royal jelly in
the cell but it was not of the same consistency as fresh - more like cream
cheese than plain yogurt. Probably as a result of not being consumed. The
brood pattern of the breeder queen is solid with very few misses. When
confined to the Jenter cage, she would lay in 102 to 106 plugs of the 112
when placed there at 5 pm and released at 1 pm the following day. The dummy
plugs were also filled up.

Good advice Dave in suggesting to produce more cells than needed - one
beekeeper friend of mine suggested putting two cells per nuc to increase the
odds of success. Seems wasteful to me but probably a good? idea. I'm not
sure why you find fault with the Jenter system re the age of the egg. I aim
for larvae that are less than 24 hours old ie 90 hours afer confining the
queen. Am I off the mark here? In regards to pollen, a frame of fresh pollen
was placed on one side of the cells in the starter(modified swarm box) along
with a frame of honey on the other side. Would this 80mm rule also apply
when moving cells to the finisher?

In regards to your response Medhat, it has been so hot here this summer that
I think that this could be a problem of overheating rather than chilling.
Starters and finishers are boiling over with bees and dud cells are not
confined to the edges of the cell bar. Each starter/finisher gets 30 cells
to look after.

As far as the jenter kit goes, I use new plugs and cups for every batch.
Both you and Trevor bring up black queen cell virus. This is a new one for
me. Any suggestions where I can get more info? Diagnostic labs are few and
far between in my neck of the woods. I will try some fumagillin next year if
the problem resurfaces.

No longer lurking,

Claude

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