Egg stage	The Larvae	The Pupa	Adult queen cutting her way out of the cell.	Adult Virgin Queen emerges
approx.72 hours     (days 1 -3)	approx. 192 hours (days 4- 12)	approx. 120 hours (days 12 - 16)	approximately 384 hours          (day 16)	approximately 384 hours          (day 16)

In commercial operations, every graft is recorded with the date of the graft, the queen mother, and any other code that helps the operator remember critical information about the graft.  The bars on which the cells are placed is also marked with a code, and a calendar is kept to chart the progress of each graft.  If a mistake is made in removing cells from a cell building hive, the emerging queens will begin to cut down cells of other queens and fight among themselves until only one survives.  All the work and effort to raise a number of good queens goes down the drain.  As a result every operation is scheduled exactly so that queen larvae is grafted on certain days, frames with cells are removed on certain days, and nuc's are prepared for taking queen cells on certain days.  When raising queens there is no such thing as a vacation or rain day off.

To check your understanding of this concept, lets assume that we graft for queen cells on June 1.  

• What is the age of the larva being grafted?  ______  
• When should the larvae be capped into a fully developed queen cell? _______  day of the month.
• When should the queen cell be moved from the cell building hive?  ______   day of the month.
• When should the new queen emerge from her cell?   ______ day of the month.

1. The answers are (4 days old - 72 to 90 hours are best)
2. The answer is by the 8th of June.
3. The answer is by the 11th of June.
4. The answer is on the 12th of June.    Why?  Because the larva was already 4 days old when it was grafted.

Calendar for the Month of June

Sunday                Monday       Tuesday     Wed.            Thur.           Fri.              Saturday

1           Graft date	2	3	4	5	6	7
8  Queen cells should be capped	9	10  Nucs to receive queen cells made up	11 Queen cells must be moved to nuc.	12   Queens begin to emerge.	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21 Check to see if queen is laying.

 

For the hobbyist, all this discussion is of importance so you know how the commercial queen producers do it.  They want to produce thousands upon thousands of queens.  In your case you might want just a few.  The process is going to be the same but on a much smaller scale.  Most likely the queenless single story colony will be best for you.  Because a batch of queens can be raised in 12 days (16 days for a queen to go from egg to emerging from her queen cell), the queenless hive could then be reunited with the queen right hive and no more cells would be needed.  Remember addition of days is important in the production of a queen.   Eggs hatch in three days, and queens emerge on the 16th day.  One or two days before the queens are to emerge from their cells, the beekeeper must remove them from the cell building hive to avoid disaster.  A very strong cell builder hive supplied with young worker bees from other colonies  can start and finish 30 to 50 good queen cells when they are supplied with this number every 4 to 5 days.

Handling queen cells

Queen cells are fragile.  They should never be shaken.  They must be protected from cold chills.  Queen cells that are chilled one day before the queen emerges usually result in queens born without fully developed wing.  On the other hand, they should not be exposed to high temperatures such as that found in the cab of a truck during mid summer.  The normal surrounding temperature of developing queen cells in a hive is near 92 degrees F.  If you are using the grafting method to produce queen cells, the following procedure should be used.  

• The bar on which the queen cells is located should be handled gently.
• The bees that adhere to the frame need to be brushed off carefully.  Never shake them off.
• Once the bar is free of worker bees, each queen cell can be removed by using a sharp knife to separate the base of the cell from the wooden bar.  Do not grasp the queen cell between your fingers in this cutting operation.  Always hold the queen cell by its base.
• Queen cells thus removed from the bar can be placed in a towel and covered over for protection.
• Queen cells can lay on their sides for a short period of time without damage.
• A queen cell needs to be placed into a queenless nuc or hive as soon as possible.  (Before a queen  emerges from her cell).

Commercial beekeepers often have a device for holding queen cells in the normal down position and a carrier to keep them warm.    For any extended period of time (several hours), a small ice cooler with a water bottle filled with warm water works well.  The cells are placed into the cooler/warmer and carried about in the nuc yard until they are all installed into the nucs.  One of the neatest queen cell holders I have found is the styrofoam containers that spark plugs are delivered in.

Getting Queen mating nuc's ready:

Every queen to be produced must have her own hive.   This hive may be quite small such as a mini-nuc.   ///see picture.  Or it may be a full size hive divided into sections with a flight hole facing in different directions.  It is important in such a hive that a queen can not cross from one section to another section.  Commercial breeders may use a full deep hive body divided into four sections with special frames designed to fit the sections of the hive.   Others use a single mating nuc of 3, 4, or 5 frames.

• Each nuc is made up with a comb of honey if available and a feeder for syrup to feed the nuc.  In addition an ideal nuc would also include a two frames of bees and some brood.  It is important that enough bees be placed in the nuc to keep the cluster large enough to cover any brood placed in the nuc.  A frame of new foundation could also be added.
• This nuc must be made up at least two miles from the nuc's final location for breeding queens.  It is not uncommon for commercial queen producers to make up nuc's with bees that are shook from other hives and started just as you would start a new hive from a package of bees, except that a queen cell is provided to the bees rather than a queen as in a package.
• The bees in a nuc should be queenless at least a few hours before a queen cell is introduced to it.  It is better if the time is a bit longer and I prefer 24 hours.
• One queen operation uses bees shook from colonies to place into the small mini nuc's they use.  This is done in a warehouse  on an assembly line.  The queen cell is added immediately to the new nuc and the bees are unable to get out of the nuc because they use a disc that has three setting to allow the flight they desire from the nuc.  (Remember these shook bees are often queenless for some time before being put into the nuc).  The disc settings by the way are:  holes too small for any bees to pass into or out of the nuc {used for ventilation while bees are confined}, a small opening to allow worker bees to leave but too small for a queen to leave, and a regular small opening which would allow the queen to leave and return and give the colony a chance to defend itself against robbing bees.  These nuc's are stored for a day in a specially designed room with controlled temperature to keep the nuc's from getting overheated.  They are then loaded on trucks and taken to the nuc yard.
• See Miller's method for the design of nuc's you could build for your own efforts at queen rearing.

Nuc's must be attended to more often than full size hives.  As the queen begins to lay eggs, the nuc will quickly become crowded with little or no space for egg laying, honey storage, or pollen storage.  If queens are not sold and the cycle of raising queens continued, the management of nucs requires attention to details such as moving the nuc into a larger size hive with more frames.  Otherwise, your newly raised queens will swarm or abscond (leave) the nuc.   The smaller the size of the nuc box, the greater the need to visit and check a queens progress.

Harvesting Queens

Queen should be laying before harvesting.  Eggs should be placed uniformly at the bottom of the cells.  It is best to watch the development of these eggs to make sure they are worker eggs rather than drone eggs.  If the queen is harvested at this point, she is referred to as an untested queen.  It means that we do not know what her daughters are going to look like.   Queens sold as 'Breeder queens' on the other hand, have been observed to be 1) laying uniform patterns of brood, 2) the daughters seem to have been bred true to the race of the bee, 3) the queen producers is satisfied that the queen will produce young queens from her eggs that will have the characteristics similar to their mother.

Some preparation is necessary before removing queens from a nuc.  First a decision on the type of holding cage for the queen must be made.  This cage is often referred to as an "introduction cage."  There currently three types used in the United States.  One is called a Benton three hole cage.  This cage has been around for a long time.    It has been used to ship queens directly through the mail with just a mailing label attached.  They can be racked into a bundle of cages and shipped without any special container other than wooden strips stapled around the cages to hold them together as a group.  Benton cages usually have 6 to 10 attendant bees to take care of the queen.  They are also labor intensive to build.

Newer methods have come along in recent years.  One is the reduction in the weight of the queen cage. The second is the development of the battery box to ship queens in. 

 The California cage is made of wood like the benton cage.  However, it has one elongated hole with a tube of queen cage candy in one end.  If shipped in a battery box, the queen cage does not have attendant bees. 

The EZ-BZ cage is made of plastic.  It is also a single compartment with a tube for queen cage candy on one end.  Unlike the other cages, bees can approach the queen from all sides because this cage allows direct contact from all sides except the candy end of the cage.  It is becoming very popular among queen breeders because of its light weight, and labor saving value.  It will also fit between the space of top bars even in a ten frame hive.

Queen cage candy:::

Queen cage candy at one time was made with honey and powdered sugar.  Honey is no longer used because of the risk of using honey that contains American foulbrood spores.  It is important to prevent the spread of disease.  One source for queen cage syrup is  The Walter T. Kelley Co.  This is an inert sugar syrup which is mixed with powdered sugar to make a solid flour dough like candy which is then inserted into one of the holes in the benton cage or pressed into the tube of either the California cage or the EZ-BZ cage.  It is important to get the consistency of this mixture right.   If mixed too wet, it will get on the bees and possibly kill them.  This candy will also melt under very warm conditions with the same results.  When queens are shipped in the California or EZ-BZ cage, the tube end of the cage always faces down to prevent the candy from dripping back onto the bees in the cage.  On a small scale, one might try mixing 1 teaspoon of liquid syrup with five teaspoons of powdered sugar.   On the commercial scale, they use a commercial mixer to make up a batch at a time.  Powdered sugar is dumped into the mixer bowl and the syrup added slowly as the mixer is turn on to a very low speed.  As the mixture begins to dough up, the mixer will begin to labor with the load.  At this point either more syrup is added, or the mixture is removed from the bowl and kneaded.  The right consistency is reached when the mixture can be rolled in one's hands without sticking or falling apart.  A lid is placed over the container to avoid the mixture from becoming rock like which it will do if exposed to moisture.

Several other topics in this session need to be discussed.  One is a queen bank and another is sending queens to customers.  Lets take a look at the queen bank.

Queen bank::::

Anyone raising a lot of queens or buying a number of queens that will not be used within several days needs a queen bank.  I normally can keep a queen in a cage with attendants for up to a week if the following conditions are observed: 1) they are kept in the dark (a closet works), 2) they are given a drop of water every day, and 3) are held at a temperature that is comfortable to you.  However, this will not work with a large number of queens being held for a week or so.  The beekeeper would be wise to develop a queen bank.  A queen bank can be simple or complex.  However, for the hobbyist, the following will work just fine.

• Queens need to be attended to by workers that will feed them.
• Workers must be unable to eat the candy from the cage to release a queen.
• Workers that feed the queens must have a supply of food.

I have used the following plan with small as well as large numbers of queens.  I build a frame that will hold the cage the queen is shipped in.  The frame is the exact size of a normal frame and I place this into a queenless  nuc box with a number of bees and capped brood.  If the queens are shipped in benton cages, I must build my frame to accommodate the larger size of this cage.  Thus I will get fewer cages into the frame than if I used the California cage or the EZ-BZ cage.  The cages need to be supported so they do not shift or fall out.  All that needs to be done is to adjust the height of the bar spacing to fit the size of the cage you are going to bank.  Queens can be held safely in this queen bank for up to three weeks.  However, any queen you have that is not laying eggs, is being wasted away.  You need to find a place for them in a regular hive by either making new hives or replacing old worn out queens as quickly as possible.

Sending queen in the mail:::

Queen breeders are challenged to get queens to the customer in a timely manner and in good condition. It is getting more difficult as I write.   I have always had good luck sending queen by mail as priority mail or express mail.  However, with the changing postal rules in effect, this is becoming more difficult for breeders.  Queens are delivered to the post office just like other mail would be.  You provide the queen cages with a package that has openings cut for ventilation.  I like the normal standard priority mail VCR shipping package that has been adapted to my use by cutting four inches of the sides out and replacing the sides removed with standard wire screening like that used in screen doors and available at any hardware store.  This gives good ventilation to the queens in the cages inside the package.  The queen cages are taped to the bottom of the box to prevent them being tossed around during shipment. The package needs to be marked "Live Queen Bees".  "Keep at room Temperature".  It is my understanding that the post office will no longer insure bees sent through the mail.  You will need to check with your postal people to find out what rules they are following before you begin to ship queens to customers.  The other option is sending queens by UPS but this is the most expensive.  I sent one batch of queens to Georgia last year with a next day delivery date.  The cost was $76.00.  If the buyer wants to pay for the added cost of getting bees overnight, then UPS is the way to go.  By the way, UPS does charge a special handling charge for bees, and an extra charge for delivery to a non business address.  This is the only way to ship if you want to be assured that the bees will arrive in good condition.  UPS will not insure bees.

The commercial shipper will send orders of 25 or more queens in a battery box.  Battery boxes are available from Mann Lake, Ltd. and can be purchased in several sizes.  A battery box is a novel idea.  Queens do not need attendants in their individual cages.  The queens are caught and put into individual cages without the need to add worker bees to the cage.  The queens are then placed in the special holders that go into the battery box.  The battery box will hold candy for the worker bees to use during the trip and a short time afterward.  The queen producer will then dump one-half pounds of bees over the queen cages and seal the battery box preventing the worker bees from escaping.  These bees will cluster over and around the queen cages and feed the queens enclosed in the cages.  When the battery box arrives at the queens destination, the battery box is opened by the beekeeper to allow the bees inside to fly.  They will return to the battery box.  The box needs to be placed in a shaded area to prevent overheating the queens inside.  Warning labels on battery boxes tell you to take the queens out of the battery box and place them in a queen bank.  You can hold queens for several days in the battery box but don't trust your luck too far beyond this.  By all means do not leave them in your car.  If the sun heats up the interior of your car, all the queens and the bees in the battery box will be dead in 15 minutes.  Many queen breeder are of the opinion that if the queens reach you alive -- they are your queens.  Without insurance now available for shippers and buyers, the risk of buying queens that are shipped may well rest with the buyer.  If you can get queens from a local source, do it.  This mailing situation opens up a number of opportunities to the individual who can raise queens for local beekeepers.

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