In queen and royal jelly production there are two distinct functions: getting the grafted cells accepted and feeding those that are accepted. Assigning the two to separate colonies markedly improves quality.

The starter colony

Its job is to get newly grafted larvae accepted. For that the colony must be queenless; queenlessness creates the willingness to accept.

What it needs to be:

• Queenless
• Very crowded. Packed to the point of congestion
• Rich in young bees. Bees with working brood food glands are required
• Well supplied with pollen and nectar. Fed if there is no flow
• Low in open brood

Cells stay here only briefly — generally about a day. Once accepted they are moved to the finisher.

The finisher colony

Its job is to feed accepted cells until they are capped.

• It may be queenright. The queen is kept in a separate compartment behind an excluder
• Strong and well fed
• Works for a long period; it can be used continuously

A queenright finisher wears out far less than a colony kept permanently queenless. Over a long season that makes a marked difference.

Why they are separated

One colony can serve as both, but there are two drawbacks:

• A colony kept permanently queenless deteriorates quickly
• Acceptance rate and feeding quality both fall

Care

• Add young bees. The starter's strength comes from young bees; feed it with frames of sealed brood
• Give protein support if there is no flow
• Rotate. Do not use the same colony as starter continuously
• Remove wild queen cells. A queenless colony builds its own

Timing

Cells are capped about eight days after grafting and the queens emerge about twelve days after grafting.

Cells must be given to mating nuclei before the queens emerge; otherwise the first to emerge destroys the rest.

Drones must be present

No production is undertaken in a period without drones; the queen cannot mate.