Hi all
Regarding the fate of queen cells, cell protectors will only go so far

[quoted material follows]

The late-stage pupa or newly formed adult in a ripe queen cell, and the adult queen
that emerges, face the following hazards after introduction into a queenright colony.

( 1) The pupa or queen in the cell may die, or be destroyed by the workers or by the
original queen of the colony. (2) After the queen emerges she may be killed by the
workers or by the original queen. (3) The new queen may be killed by a predator
during her mating flight. ( 4) After mating the queen may enter the wrong hive and be
killed there. 

One or more of these hazards (or other yet unknown factors) must
account for the low success rate of queen replacement by this method

Some authors (Skirkevicius, 1963; Forster, 1972) have had considerable success
with the queen cell technique, but most of the methods they used are not applicable to
large-scale commercial operations.

Haydak and Dietz united parent colonies and divisions, without dequeening either unit, and found that in 57.3% the young queens survived, in 10.3% the original queens survived, and in 32.4% both were destroyed. Many beekeepers doubt the reliability of requeening without dequeening, and thus the method is seldom used with complete confidence. 

I. W. FORSTER 

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