The first nuc I went into was the purple one.  This is a cell that I grafted from George.  Meet George’s offspring:

Just emerged from the cell

Her first steps on to comb

She immediately checks to see if her abdomen will fit in the cells!

The next nuc is the orange one.  This is one that Andrew grafted from George. When I separated the frames a large portion of the wax holding the protector on came off on the frame.  I decided to just remove the protector entirely.  The bees seem to accept the cell well.

An aside on this hive, when I opened the hive there was a bee trying to remove the purple thread.  As soon as I took the inner cover off she began flying while holding the string.  She continued to go in frustratingly small circles until I offered her my arm.  She laid the thread across my arm and flew away.

I opened the cell protectors on the two nucs in the queen castle without incident.  I believe the queen on the left one will emerge within hours as I can already see a circle that has been chewed around the bottom of the cell.  I am a little concerned about this colony as there are probably no more than a half cup of bees.  Is there a way I can introduce more bees without upsetting the whole operation?