Royal jelly is the secretion of the head glands of young nurse bees. All larvae are fed on it in their first days; only a larva destined to become a queen continues to receive it throughout development.

Production rests on inducing the colony to behave as though it were raising a queen, and collecting the jelly from the cups.

The basic principle

A strong colony left queenless will feed grafted young larvae as queen candidates. Abundant jelly is placed in the cups. The cups are removed before the larva consumes it.

The sequence

1. Prepare the starter colony

A crowded colony rich in young bees and well fed is required. The queen is removed or kept away behind an excluder.

2. Graft the larvae

The youngest possible larvae are transferred into the cups. The younger the larva, the more jelly is produced. Grafting is done with a grafting tool or with systems that avoid grafting altogether.

3. Wait

The cups are given to the colony and left for about three days. At the end of that period the jelly in the cup is at its maximum; if left longer the larva begins to consume it.

4. Collect

The cups are removed, the larva is taken out and the jelly is emptied with a small spatula or a vacuum device.

The cold chain — indispensable

Royal jelly is sensitive to heat, light and air. It must be kept cold from the moment it is collected.

• Work in a cool place during collection
• Store in dark, airtight glass containers
• A refrigerator for the short term, a freezer for the long term
• Avoid prolonged contact with metal spoons and containers

If the cold chain is broken the product looks the same but loses value. This is a deterioration the buyer cannot detect; it therefore rests on the producer's honesty.

The cost to the colony

Royal jelly production is a heavy burden on a colony. A colony kept permanently queenless or half-queenless wears out. Its nurse bee strength is exhausted.

• Support the colony regularly with protein
• Rotate the starter colonies
• Take a weakening colony out of production

The reality of scale

The amount of jelly obtained from one cup is very small. A meaningful quantity requires many cups, a regular cycle and exact timing.

For this reason royal jelly production should be planned not as a sideline but as a separate branch of production, with investment in equipment, labour and a cold chain.