> speaking from my own experience in and around a queen rearing operation the folks that do the grafting have a quick eye and a steady hand and know real well the proper age of larvae to graft.  success or failure in term of queen cell set typically happens in the starter. 

Honestly, I totally agree with this. This was my experience as well. Close attention was paid to getting the youngest possible larvae, and queens that were hatching on the day the were to be put in nucs were culled, which would tend to eliminate the queens from older larvae. Further, I would concur that the weak point is in the cell starters or finishers (if used). Nicely started cells were often placed in finishers which did a poor job. While I think it is worthwhile to scrutinize all the queen rearing practices, perhaps the techniques used are the best compromise between efficiency and quality control. I have seen commercial queens live a year or more. Generally not much longer than that. 

PLB

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