Working with and transporting queen cells - FAQs
Queen cells ready to go into nucs.
Why should I use a queen cell and not a mated queen?
Queen cells are cheaper
A cell will give you a break in the brood cycle - great for managing pests and diseases
A cell is easy to transport (see below)
Queens from cells are easily accepted by the receiving colony.
Cells are avialable earlier in the season (can be ready for spring splits in the North).
For more information on queen cells, please read the article from American Bee Journal Sept 2020 - “Working with Queen Cells”
How should I transport queen cells?
Queen cells need to be kept relatively warm and safe from jostling. If you are transporting open cells, you also need to make sure that they don’t dry out. If you are going a short distance (<30 minute car ride), you don’t need to worry that much. Cells are pretty hardy, so you don’t need to overthink it.
Below are some photos and descriptions of ways that queens cells can be transported.
Foam packing to keep the queen cells stable and upright. A hot water pack can be added under the foam in the cooler.
This box has modified cell protectors - this is good if you are worried that the queens might emerge in your car!
Here is another perfectly good way to transport multiple cells. The milk jug was filled with hot water from the tap, and we were able to transport dozens of cells safely in the pine needles.
Other ways I have used:
Toilet paper in an egg carton
Egg incubator with foam (for long distance - plugged into an inverter)
Sawdust in a tupperware
Small cooler with hot water bottle covered in pine shavings
A styrofoam cup - queen cell protector pressed into side
A plastic container from the recycling bin with a wash cloth.
. I have one beekeeper who buys queen cells from me every year, and every year he will take them home by wrapping a piece of paper around the cell like a tube, and sticking it into the chest pocket of his shirt.
A cell bar - Like this one from Mann Lake - (I use JZ BZ base mount cups), in a nuc box.
What if I am transporting the queen cells a really long distance (or if I am a person who worries a lot)?
The best way to transport queen cells is in a queenless nuc. In a five frame nuc box, add 4 frames from your hives that have food on them, and little to no brood. Keep most of the bees on the frames - you don’t need it to be totally full of bees, but you want enough to cover the cells. Add in a queen rearing frame (Frame that has cut outs to hold cell bars- Like this one). When you arrive, put the cell bar in the frame, and close up the nuc box. The bees will cover and care for the cells. If you are transporting open cells (like 72 hour cells), you’ll want more food and more nurse bees in the box, so they can keep them fed during transport.
Do I have to install the cells right away?
Yes. Ideally they should go into a queenless nuc immediately. If you don’t have your nucs/ splits made for the cell, you can bank it in a queenless hive, or in a queenright hive above a queen excluder. You can also keep them in an incubator, but you cannot just leave them on your counter like a caged queen.
How do I install a cell?
Use the cup or cell protector to hang it on a brood frame. Chose a low spot if you can (see the photo below). Make sure you do not squish / bump the cell when you put it back into the hive - take out an extra frame so you have plenty of space. Put the frame with the cell into the hive and slide it over so the side with the cell is protected against another brood frame (put the other frame back in against the side of the frame without the cell).
Good queen cell placement. Photo by Melissa Holohan
What happens if the cells don’t make it?
The biggest risk for queen cells is that the queens do not come back from their mating flights. In good conditions, usually 80% of the queens successfully return from their mating flights. Therefore, it is best practice to make up a few extra splits or nucs to account for this. If the queens do not come back, you can just recombine. For example, if you want to requeen 4 hives, you can make an extra nuc, and get 5 cells. That way if one doesn’t make it back from the mating flight, you can just combine that hive with your extra nuc. If they all come back, you can keep the nuc as a spare, or sell it to a neighboring beekeeper who needs a queen.
Do I need to buy multiple cells for each hive?
You can, but I don’t recommend it - most of the time the cells emerge. The biggest risk as mentioned above is that the queens don’t come back from their mating flight. Rather than multiple cells per hive, I would make a few additional nucs/splits, and recombine those that don’t succeed.
What do I need to do to the hive ahead of time?
If you are getting a capped queen cell (about to emerge), you want to put it into a queenless hive. Ideally, you would make your hive queenless the day before. If you are getting uncapped queen cells, you can keep them in a queenright hive for a while to continue to feed them (above a queen excluder), but make sure you put them in mating nucs before they will emerge.
Feel free to reach out if you have additional questions regarding transporting or using queen cells, and check out the great new guide from Project Apis M on the topic.