After years of observing hives that didn't take our grafted queen cells, I have the opinion that the emergency queens were 50 % good size, but many queens were small runts, some so small as to be hard to differentiate from workers. 

I would never advocate splits made with emergency cells *if* high quality grafted cells were available, any more than I would buy cheap poor quality queens from a breeder to save a few bucks. 

All things considered, a good queen has the most impact on the general quality of the hive. 

One other consideration that has not been mentioned on this subject most recently is this: the time factor. When we split in Florida, every day is crucial to get queens laying ASAP to build up good populations to make honey. By using cells, one can get a jump on it, especially when queens are not available because of high demand and pricey.  

Kirk Jones

Sleeping Bear Farms   beekeepers making honey...
Benzie Playboys           cajun and zydeco band........

 

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