Transferring Queen Cells
Lexikon
Transferring queen cells means caging capped queen cells so that the first queen to emerge does not sting the others to death.
Transferring queen cells means caging capped queen cells so that the first queen to emerge does not sting the others to death. For this, an emergence cage is placed over each cell, often with a small supply of food, so the emerged queen stays inside it.
Caging is done on the first or second-to-last day of capping. Maturing queen cells are sensitive to jarring in the days before that, so the breeding frame is moved as little as possible.
Three approaches are open. The capped cell is removed on the first day of capping and hung into a queenless colony or nuc; it stays in the nurse colony and is caged there; or it is placed with a few attendant bees and a feeding tube into a cage in an incubator at a constant 35 degrees.
About eight days after caging, the emerged queens are introduced to the mating units. Anyone who waits too long gives away time, because the young queens must complete their mating flights within a limited window.