The effect of the number of introduced queen cells (15, 24, 48, 66), cell bar level (upper,middle, lower) and queen cell position within a grafted frame (middle, peripheral) on thepercentages of sealed queen cell and queen emergence, the development time, and theweight of newly emerged queens, were observed during the spring and summer seasons.The results indicated the percentage of sealed queen cells was affected by the number of introducedqueen cells, but not by the level bar or position in the rearing frame, during the two seasons. Thepercentage of queen emergence in spring was significantly affected by the three factors, but inthe summer - only by the number of queen cells. Also, both development time and weight ofemerged queens were affected by the three factors. Queen quality, based on queen weight, wasalso investigated. In spring, only heavy queens (190-200 mg) appeared when 15 queen cells wereintroduced, but heavy queens appeared in low percentages when 24 or 48 cells were introduced, andheavy queens completely disappeared with the introduction of 66 queen cells. Queens emerged fromcells on the middle rearing bars and the middle positions of each bar had a high frequency of heavyweight in comparison with those reared on the upper or lower bars and located at the peripheral ofthe bars.
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