Does Size Matter?

[L Daxon]

Does the size of the queen cell matter when it comes to producing a good queen?  I found 6 different queen cells in two hives today and one or two seemed a good size but I thought the other 4 were a bit on the small side.  Two of the smaller ones were each on a frame by themselves, looked kind like superseedure cells.  And one frame had 4 capped queen cells, 2 on the very bottom and 2 up just a bit from the bottom.  I have a picture of the two largest cells but didn't get any pix of the smaller cells.

The real question is:  When it comes to queen cells, does size have anything to do with the quality of the queen?

[Kathyp]

some say yes.  i think there was a discussion about that on here back awhile.  i'd say that if you are going to let them requeen, trust them to pick the best one.  better they choose, than you.

[hardwood]

First, did you take the queen away in a split? If not they might be about to swarm.

I honestly can't tell you yet if the size of the cell matters that much. I had about 20 or so grafted cells all emerge in the incubator back in Feb. and noticed that, even though a couple of the cells were quite small compared to the rest, the virgins were all the same size. The difference was how much royal jelly was left unconsumed in the cells after emergence. I suppose one could assume that the better fed they are before they pupate the better the queen but did the smaller cells have a lack of jelly or was is just enough? I talked with another queen breeder that has seen the same thing but neither of us has followed a small cell queen vs a larger cell queen through a generation to see if they made a difference in the end. We both agreed to experiment with this to see how things come out.

I know lots of beekeepers that remove small cells and leave the big ones.

Scott

[L Daxon]

I had 6 queen cells that all came out of the same hive which I think is probably getting ready to swarm.  I was afraid to take all the queen cells away from this hive as I didn't see any more young brood/eggs so I think the queen has probably already stopped laying and if they go ahead and swarm, this hive could end up queenless if I stripped them of all the q cells.

I then put two of the q cells in with a new split I made from another hive (not the one that had all the queen cells), and I banked two more of the q cells in a nuc.  The two biggest cells went in the split, BUT when I got into the split to add the two q cells today, I noticed the 2-day-old split already had 3 more queen cups with what looked like royal jelly/eggs in them.  These queen cups with stuff in them were on a frame of eggs I had put in the split Saturday so they could make themselves a queen.  That was before I knew I had already capped queen cells in another hive. I was suprised the split built the 3 queen cups with stuff in them so fast as I know only the eggs, not the extended queen cups, were there when I did the split.  I wonder if the girls will build out the queen cups into mature queen cells now that they have 2 capped queen cells freshly added.

I asked about size as I was wondering whether the hive, the split or the nuc was going to end up with the best queen.  I guess time will tell.

Kathy, i will go back and try to find that other discussion/thread. Thanks.  LD

[Kathyp]

Kathy, i will go back and try to find that other discussion/thread. Thanks.  LD

it was way back and i don't remember the context.  sorry.  good luck finding it  :-D

[L Daxon]

Kathy,
I did the search and did find several threads on the subject.  Like most bee issues, the opinions were all over the map. :shock:
ld