Finished Queen Cells
Bill is shown here holding a frame of completed queen cells. It takes about 9 days after the
egg is laid for the egg to hatch and the bees to make the larvae into a completed queen cell such as these. Then
it takes another 7 days for the metamorphosis to take place and the new queen to hatch. We take the cells out of
the hives as soon as they are completed and place them in an incubator for about 5 or 6 days to prevent the bees
from making excess comb all over the cells, which makes it difficult and time consuming when we try to take the
cells individually off the bars. Just before the cells hatch, we place the cells in a small mating nuc with a
cupful or so of bees. About 5 days after the new queen hatches, she makes her mating flight(s) and returns (hopefully)
to the nuc. Then about 2 or 3 days after she returns, she will begin to lay eggs. That's when she is ready to be
shipped or used in one of our colonies. A period of 26 to 30 days is required from the time the egg is laid to
the time the new queen is laying.
Here is a closeup of the completed queen cells. You can see several places where the bees have already begun to build excess comb between the cells. That's why we take them out of the hives as soon as possible after they have been sealed. If we had left them in for a few more days, the frame would have been solid with comb and if would have been difficult, if not impossible to get the cells off without damage.