Cell starter cups 100 pcs

Queen Cell Cups 100 pcs – Proven Tool for Comfortable Queen Bee Rearing

We offer queen cell cups, which are among the most widespread tools for queen rearing worldwide. The 100-piece package is designed as the foundation of a complete breeding system and significantly facilitates work in the apiary. The greatest advantage is the ability to avoid demanding manual grafting – you minimize the risk of damaging delicate larvae, save your eyesight and time, and have better control over breeding. The system allows working with larvae aged approximately 6–24 hours, which in practice contributes to rearing strong and vital queens.

Why Bees Accept Them Well

The success of the cups is based on their well-thought-out construction. The inner side is roughened to mimic the natural surface of bee comb. Thanks to this, bees accept the cups more willingly and "work them" faster. Although the cups are primarily designed for the queen rearing system without grafting, they also serve excellently independently – for example, for beekeepers who stick to classic manual grafting.

Compatibility and Use in Practice

The queen cell cup is designed as part of a grafting system and its use is simple. The cup is mounted on molded plastic cells of a breeding frame, which is placed in the colony for egg laying. After laying and hatching of larvae of the desired age, the cup is easily removed and inserted into the queen cell cup holder. Individual components fit together precisely, creating a functional and efficient unit for queen rearing.

Technical Parameters of Queen Cell Cup

Choose a practical and proven solution for queen rearing – with less effort and more consistent results throughout the breeding season.

Professional Grafting System for Easier Queen Bee Rearing

Rearing your own queen bees is a path for beekeepers to greater self-sufficiency, better genetic control, and long-term stable colony productivity. This well-designed grafting system significantly simplifies the entire process and makes queen rearing accessible even to less experienced beekeepers. It allows obtaining healthy and vital queens without lengthy, delicate manual work with larvae.

Why Choose This System

• No manual grafting – eliminates work with grafting tools and transferring tiny larvae from comb. This is especially appreciated by beekeepers with weaker eyesight or less steady hands. The procedure is faster, more precise, and gentler on breeding material.
• Uniform larval age under control – you don't have to painstakingly search for the "right" larvae and estimate their age. Thanks to precisely known laying time from the breeder queen, you obtain larvae of the same age, which favorably affects the quality of future queens.
• Gentle and safe handling – larvae remain in the original plastic cups and you only move the cups during work. This minimizes the risk of damage, drying out, or chilling during handling.

Technical Parameters of the Set

Step-by-Step Queen Rearing Guide

1. Breeding Frame Preparation
   Insert the plastic frame with inserted cups (110 pcs) into a regular wooden frame. According to custom, you can cut a hole in drawn comb and screw the frame to the top bar, incorporate it into the midrib during wiring, or temporarily attach it to the comb with rubber bands or string. Bees will soon firmly attach it themselves and naturally integrate it into the comb.
2. "Polishing" by Bees
   Place the prepared frame (including the transparent cover with queen excluder) into the colony for 2–3 days. Bees will coat the plastic with a thin layer of wax and propolis, thereby conditioning it, scenting it, and significantly improving its acceptance.
3. Isolating the Breeder Queen
   Lightly brush the queen with honey from the queen excluder side. In a selected gentle and productive colony, find the breeder queen, place her through the front opening into the plastic frame and close it. The queen cannot pass through the narrow gaps, but workers can pass through, be in contact with her, and continuously feed her.
4. Laying Check
   Place the frame in the center of the brood nest between combs with open brood. The queen usually lays eggs in the frame area within 2–4 hours. The next day, check that eggs are at the bottom of the cells. If everything is fine, remove the front cover, release the queen, and return the frame so that bees continue to incubate the laid eggs.
5. Larval Check
   On the fourth day, remove the frame, carefully brush off the bees, and verify that the larvae have hatched (approximately after 72 hours – lying at the bottom of the cell in a slight arc). A delicate sheen around the larva against the light usually indicates that it is already in royal jelly and is being fed.
6. Breeding Bar Assembly
   On a warm day (or in a warm room), remove the back cover. Remove the plastic cups with larvae and insert them into yellow holders. Then snap them into base holders, which are pre-attached to breeding bars at 28–40 mm spacing.
7. Placing in Breeding Colony
   Transfer the breeding frame to a prepared queenless colony or to a honey super separated from the brood chamber by a solid partition. Ideal is insertion 30–60 minutes after dequeening, so that bees don't start building emergency queen cells from their own brood. Place the frame in the center of the brood body, where there is stable temperature, suitable humidity, and enough young nurse bees.
8. Cell Protection and Emergence
   On the 14th–15th day from egg laying, protect mature queen cells by sliding a cylindrical cell protector onto the cup holder. Add a small amount of honey-sugar paste or crystallized honey to the protector as first food for the young queen, who usually emerges on the 16th day.