Eric asks "Is the idea merely to eliminate
competition for the nurse bees' attention?"

That is part of it, but there are also other factors.  Perhaps the most
notable is that bees are apparently able to determine whether larvae are
related to them and, if so, the degree of relatedness (first cousin, second
cousin, sister, half sister, 1/4 sister, etc.)  individual bees then give
'preference' to those most closely related.

As 10 pounds of bees will surely come from at least two hives, and more
likely 3-4, some brood might be related and therefore be given preference to
a queen cell not related.

It is best for the nurse bees to be wholly focused on the queen cells with
no distractions.

Lloyd


-- 
Lloyd Spear
Owner Ross Rounds, Inc.
Manufacture of equipment for round comb honey sections,
Sundance Pollen Traps, and producer of Sundance custom labels.
Contact your dealer or www.RossRounds.com

******************************************************
* Full guidelines for BEE-L posting are at:          *
* http://www.honeybeeworld.com/bee-l/guidelines.htm  *
******************************************************