Making Wax Queen Cups For Queen Rearing

What's better than using your own resources to accomplish what you need? In this video I will show you how to use your own bees wax to make queen cups. These queen cups are used in queen rearing to mimic the natural wax cup a queen would be reared in.
You can read more about making queen cups on my blog at:
honeycomb-hill-beekeeping.blog...

[@user-hu2sk9fo6z]

Thanks

[@lintonmacnamara1469]

Good stuff Jason. All I’ve gotta do now is master the grafting. Thanks for posting. An ancient Aussie beek

[@eddielloyd13]

There are queen cup molds you can actually buy now. I bought 2 of them. They work exceptional well

[@JCsBees]

Cool! Thanks for sharing!!

[@prasanthpillai4837]

Very simple way to explain, Thank You.

[@TomBrueggen]

Very nice, simple and clean. I'll have to teach my kids how to do this. I just don't have the time, even with being "iced" in down here. Being stuck at home instead of work just means I have to help chase the kids, which I don't really mind of course :)

[@dkaiyumi]

Jason I do the same here using wax to make queen cups Have you ever tried the Nicot System? It´s a system where you put the queen in a box and she lay the eggs in small plastic cups

[@gzo313]

Can you show how you incorporate these cups into the hive in another video.

[@ShortBeakBudapest]

Jason, I am a follower of yours and I enjoy your videos very much and have learned a great deal from you. Thank you. I have a question for you. If you placed one of these queen cups on the bottom of a brood frame, would the queen lay in this cup? In stead of grafting, could you just make a queen or two like this and move the frame to the Nuc with the queen cell hanging on that frame? Not everyone needs 30 queens at one time. Thanks, Mike Seiler

[@JCsBees]

Mike, I am glad to hear my videos have been helpful. As far as adding a queen cup to a frame it may or may not work. I see hives with queen cups all the time but the queen doesn't lay in them unless she is ready to prepare to swarm. Now maybe if the hive population is high and they are running out of room she would be more intrigued to lay in them, not sure. Give it a shot and see what happens.

[@rjones3nfamily]

Simpler way to make them more uniform is to take a 5/16 dowel and give it a turn in a pencil sharpener. then spin it in some medium to light grit sand paper.

[@user-rr9gh5ko1c]

You guys are really stubborn!! 2020 and you are still using the imperial system!! it is ok, really it is ok!! We won't say you're the last ones to adopt the metric system!! I promise! Just go on and simplify your lives and ours in the process. It's a joke but has a bit of truth in it. XD

[@paulchristu996]

Why not amputate the bottom half of a mature queen cell, rinse it clean, and fill with silicone caulk, epoxy, etc., stick a toothpick in it for a handle (or a narrow dowel if you want to build a bar with a row of molds), then melt off the wax in hot water when the mold is set? Haven’t tried it, just a thought.

[@craig6903]

Can you gives the measurements of the dowel after sanding?

[@natserog]

JC....do you know of anyone who makes and sells the dowel bar set up that I can dip in wax a couple times to make wax cup?

[@JCsBees]

Sorry I do not. You can make them pretty easy though. Have you tried to make one?

[@natserog]

@@JCsBees i never have...not much of a carpenter. I saw a dowel bar at bee show that had a row of them on piece of wood. they wanted 100 bucks. ...thought you might have a resource...thanks Jason :)

[@Barbara-jk5ni]

Hi. Can you explain how to use these after they are cooled and hardened? thanks

[@mmb_MeAndMyBees]

Some Years later ! . . . 🤭 You 'glue' some using more Melted 'Bees Wax' onto a Wood Frame under the Top Bar, and Graft 'Eggs of Appropriate Age' into them. Add these to a Hopelessly Queenless Colony, and let them Raise "New Queen Cells." Hope this Helps. 😎 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝 Happy Beekeeping 2024 🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝🐝

[@gzo313]

Never mind saw the other video.

[@josephwoodall832]

Is the acceptance better with natural wax cell cups?

[@JCsBees]

I've only used wax cups a few dozen times but never noticed much difference.

[@josephwoodall832]

@@JCsBees that's what I'm hearing from everyone they are however cheaper and there are some interesting molds now and the wax can be reused I'll run them side by side with plastic cups so I can see if there is a difference if there is I suspect it will be marginal but making cups will give me something to do in the winter.

[@stevehappe8583]

Nice. Don't have to buy hundreds of plastic cups. Thanks.