Hello all,
This is my first post here so allow me to introduce myself; I'm a fourth year beekeeper in western Wyoming. I'm still a "newbee" but, gaining confidence each year.
I'm not sure if this is the correct place to pose a question, but since I understood I otta check in here first, I thought I'd throw it out; two birds with one stone, right?
Anyway, I found myself with a queenless colony, (it was actually a recently purchased nuc) but I thought that maybe instead of ordering a mated queen, I would try and let them requeen (this will be my first go at it). So I gave them a frame from one of my other colonies, a particularly strong one with an exceptional queen with newly built frame and loaded with eggs and larva. Sure enough they built a handful of good looking queen cells that are now a couple days away from being capped. So, here's my question: Sort of as an afterthought, if I wanted to cut a queen cell or two and put them into a mating nuc, how would I go about it? It's comb built on plastic foundation.
I have two reasons for wanting to try it. First, if I can raise transfer a queen cell or two to a mating nuc, it increases my odds of getting a mated queen out of the deal. Second, if they're both successfully mated, I could requeen one of my other hives that isn't looking as strong this year.
Thoughts?