Caged Queen Bee Cells. These are queen cells (larval stage queen bees), with each cell in a cage. That is because when they hatch they immediately fight it out until only one is left. So they are hatched into these cages to keep them apart from each other. Straight after this pic was taken they were put back into the hive so that when they hatch the bees will feed and care for them through the gaps. These are important queen bee larvae, produced from eggs taken from one of my best hives. Once they are 7 days old since hatching they will be artificially inseminated from drone (male) bees from some of the other hives that have the desirable characteristics I have selected. The aim is to produce queen bees that will head up hives of bees that are gentle for the beekeeper to work on, plus make lot's of honey.