Artificial queen cell, Nicot

Nicot artificial queen cell

Many beekeepers face difficulties when introducing queen bees into a bee colony or a split. Various beekeeping books describe hundreds of methods for introducing a queen bee, but none can guarantee 100% success. One highly effective method in modern beekeeping is considered to be the queen bee emerging through an artificial queen cell. This method is used with both mated and unmated queen bees when introducing them into a split or nucleus hive (nuc). There are many ways to make an artificial queen cell: from wire, wax, foil or paper. However, modern beekeeping requires queen cells with precise dimensions for the queen bee and a reliable way to isolate the queen bee herself. These are exactly the queen cells produced by the French company NICOTPLAST under the Nicot ™ trade mark. Nicot artificial queen cells are made from food-grade plastic, are odourless and do not provoke aggression in bees. The queen bee is placed inside the queen cell and closed with a lid. The lower opening is sealed with wax or candy. After some time, the bees clear the passage for the queen bee. The queen bee emerges as she would naturally, which does not provoke aggression in the bees and gives a high chance of successful queen acceptance.

The inventor, J.Kemp, recommends using wax with very small holes as the cover for the queen bee’s exit. Bees clear this type of opening quite quickly (in approximately 10 minutes).

To use this artificial queen cell, we recommend removing the old queen bee 24 hours in advance or making a split for placing the queen cell. When working with queen bees there is a certain risk to the bee colony, so all actions are carried out by the beekeeper at their own risk.

Hot water can be used to clean the Nicot system parts, but please note that wax melts at 65°C, while the plastic used in the Nicot system may deform at 75°C (according to the manufacturer’s data - Nicot, France).

Manufacturer: S.A.S. NICOTPLAST, Maisod, France (Nicot ™, Nicot, France).