> There has been some interesting discussion about requeening
> using queen
> cells.  I have also noted though some posts (I think by Dave Green)
> mentioning that there is a certain time that the queen larvae are very
> delicate.  What exactly is the time period (days from
> grafting) when the
> larvae are delicate?  What methods do people use for
> transporting queen
> cells during the day from yard to yard?

Gilles Fert in his book, 'Breeding Queens' says "...as far as possible
avoid all handling between the seventh and ninth days afer grafting.  At
this stage the larvae(sic) are particularly fragile: the young larvae
has spun its cocoon and is hanging from the top of the cell; if this is
mishandled or cooled, it may produce a queen with deformed feet or
atrophied wings".

Jack verified this fairly well with his attempts at hatching queen cells
that he had kept at room temperature for 24 hours during this stage.
(See sci.agriculture.beekeeping from May 1997)

allen