Cell-Building Colonies

A finisher hive (finisher colony) is a strong colony, usually with its queen kept in the bottom box by an excluder, that feeds queen cells accepted in the starter until they are capped and mature. Because this hive determines how much jelly each larva gets and for how many days, much of a queen's quality is shaped in the finisher. This page explains step by step how to set up a finisher hive, how to arrange the frames, its management schedule and common mistakes.

What does a finisher hive do?

The starter colony only gets the cells accepted on the first day. From day 1 to day 10 after grafting, feeding the larvae jelly without interruption, extending the cells with wax and capping them, and keeping them warm during the sealed stage are the job of the finisher hive. Any shortage of food or nurse bees during this time causes a permanent loss of quality that cannot be seen from outside but later shows up as small queens that lay poorly.

Feeding does not require queenlessness. That is why the finisher is usually set up queenright: the colony keeps its normal routine, does not wear out and can be used many times over the season.

Types of finisher hive

How do you set up a queenright finisher hive?

1. Choose the colony: Pick a healthy, gentle, well-fed colony that fills at least two boxes. A weak colony cannot be a finisher.
2. Put the queen below: Find the queen and leave her with the brood frames in the bottom box. Place a queen excluder between the boxes.
3. Arrange the upper box: Move up one or two frames of open brood, a pollen frame and frames of honey from below. The grafting frame goes between the open brood and the pollen frame.
4. Wait a day: Nurse bees follow the open brood up into the upper box. Give the cells one day after the set-up is in place.
5. Feed: Give syrup with a frame feeder or top feeder and, if needed, a pollen substitute. If forage has stopped, feeding must never lapse.
6. Place the cells: Move the bars accepted in the starter into the finisher's upper box quickly and without jolting; write the batch number and grafting date on the frame.

Where in the hive does the cell frame go?

The cell frame goes in the middle of the upper box, where nurse bees are densest. Having young open brood on one side and pollen on the other gives the best results: open brood attracts nurse bees, and pollen puts the protein needed for jelly production right next to them.

• Warm zone: Don't leave cells at the edge of the hive or in a cool corner; especially on spring days when nights turn cold, cells at the edge can get chilled.
• Space between frames: The frames on either side of the cells must be spaced far enough apart for the cells to lengthen; otherwise the bees attach the cells to the neighbouring comb.
• One batch at a time: Keeping two open (uncapped) batches in the same finisher at the same time splits the feeding. Give a new batch only after the previous one is capped.

How many queen cells can a finisher feed?

The number of cells a colony can feed is limited and depends on colony strength, the proportion of young bees and the forage available. If you give more cells than the colony can handle, every larva receives less jelly and the result is short, small cells.

The practical approach: start with a small number in the first batches and look at the length, thickness and surface sculpturing of the capped cells; if they are large and well formed, increase the number gradually in later batches. As soon as the cells start getting smaller, you have exceeded the limit. A few well-fed cells are always worth more than many poorly fed ones.

Finisher hive management schedule

How can you tell a well-finished queen cell?

• Length: A long cell hanging straight down; short, stubby cells point to underfeeding.
• Surface: A wax-worked, pitted surface (resembling a peanut shell); a smooth, thin wall is a sign of poor care.
• Shape: Crooked cells, cells leaning to one side or stuck to the neighbouring comb may have been damaged.
• Uniformity: Cells of similar size within a batch show that the larvae were grafted at the same age and fed equally.

Common mistakes and how to fix them

• Too few nurse bees: If open brood is not moved up, the young bees stay in the bottom box. Fix: move fresh open brood up before each batch.
• Gaps in feeding: Natural forage stops abruptly on rainy days. Fix: always keep the feeder full.
• Cold transfer: Leaving the bars exposed while moving them from starter to finisher chills the larvae. Fix: keep the colonies side by side and cover the bars with a damp cloth.
• Jolting capped cells: The cell frame gets knocked about while checking for wild cells. Fix: do the check without touching the cell frame.
• Never resting the same colony: Over a long season the finisher also tires; using two finishers in rotation is safer.