I’m taking you into the yard to demonstrate an essential intermediate beekeeping skill: Harvesting Queen Cells. Whether you’re looking to save money on buying queens or you want to maintain your own high-quality stock, learning how to properly harvest and transport these cells is a game-changer for your apiary.
As a Certified Master Beekeeper, I’ll show you exactly how to identify healthy, capped cells and the delicate process of removing them without causing damage. We’ll also cover the tools I prefer for the job and how to securely place them into queenless nucs or a queen castle for hatching.
In this video, you’ll learn:
How to spot the best queen cells for harvesting.
Why I prefer a razor blade over a standard hive tool for this task.
The “Rule of Verticality”: Why orientation matters during transport.
Installing harvested cells into a Queen Castle or mating nuc.
Record-keeping tips to ensure you never miss a hatch date.
Essential Links & Resources:
Take Rays Beekeeping Course Here: https://www.honeytopbees.com/rays-beginner-video-course/
Visit the Honey Top Bees Store: http://www.honeytopbees.com
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