The objective of this experiment was to test four commercial types of cupules, which are different in color, height, volume and diameter, in respect to acceptance of transferred larvae, royal jelly and queen rearing. It was observed that cupules which presented best acceptance were orange (55.6%). Cupules that presented the most royal jelly were white (347.7 mg). Weight of the extracted larvae (42.0 ± 49.6 mg) at the moment of royal jelly collection was not different for the cupules of different color. Weight of the recently emerged queens was larger for white cupules (190.2 mg). Volume of queen cupules was not different for the cupules of different color, being on the average 822.5 mm³. In relation to wax cupules, the acceptance percentage was greater for the larger cupules (18.2%) in relation to the smallest ones (12.1%).. The amount of royal jelly produced was larger for the smaller wax cupules (151.4 mg) than in the largest ones (137.5 mg). In spite of the white cupules having larger amount of royal jelly, the largest total amount of royal jelly produced was obtained with the orange cupules. For rearing of queens, the use of orange cupules is recommented.
Apis mellifera; cup; queen rearing