Abejero wrote:
>So these are my questions: Why do I put a queen excluder between the queen
>in the cell finisher and the cells?  What would happen if I didn't?  As it
>is, why doesn't the established queen in the cell finisher swarm?
>Apparently there are different triggers for swarming and for tending to
>queen cells?  What are those triggers?  What are my options for pressing
>one trigger and not the other, and what are my limitations?  What
>difference would it make if I surrounded my queen cells in the cell
>finisher with open brood versus sealed brood?  Once the queen cells are
>sealed does the optimal set-up in the cell finisher change?

Abejero (great nickname, muy bien!)

First, and this is the most important, there are as many ways of raising
queen cells as there are queen breeders! OK. When I raised 1000s of cells,
back in the 1980s, I maintained 10 cell builders during the season. These
were queenless two story with an excluder. The excluder is to keep queens
away from the cells, and also to trap any that might emerge accidentally. If
there is brood, there is always a risk of stray queen hatching. I didn't use
brood except one frame of young larvae next to the cells. I would add fresh
nurse bees twice a week. Very labor intensive. A queen-right cell builder is
easier to maintain, since it can keep producing brood, but I found my way to
be more reliable, as long as fresh bees were added twice a week. 

A queenright cell builder has no reason not to swarm. Better clip the queen!
 If cells are present, whether because of swarming impulse, supersedure
impulse, or cell building, the hive is in perfect condition to cast a swarm.
Another reason not to use queen-right cell builders. Once the cells are
sealed, it's just an incubator. No need to add unsealed brood, unless you
are adding more cells. Most people use a cell builder for several weeks, so
it must be maintained. Always check twice a week for stray queen cells, or
you may lose the whole batch.

When you talk about triggers, you make it sound like a hive of bees is some
sort of machine with switches that go on and off! Not so. There are general
rules for swarming, etc. but these conditions may be present in various
forms and the hive may or may not swarm! Honey bee colony behavior is very
interesting and not as predictable as the textbooks might lead you to
believe. Kinda like people! You can say what they will probably do, but you
can't say what they will do. Beekeepers look for techniques that are
reliable, knowing that a given hive will do as it pleases. Hedge your bets.

pb

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