At What Age Should A New Queen Start Laying?

[davidharradine]

I did an artificial swarm on 10th April, and left some uncapped queen cells in the original hive. I reduced down to just one capped queen cell on 17th April.

A few days ago I found a queen outside the hive, very dirty and unable to move properly. I tried to get her back in the hive but she was quickly expelled again by a worker.

Since then I've been worried that the colony was queenless, so decided to have a quick look today (I know you're not supposed to look in a hive with a new queen this soon after doing an artificial swarm).

There was no larva and no eggs at all. But just as I was deciding that the colony was queenless, I saw a queen. What a relief!

So now I'm just wondering when I should expect to see eggs being laid.

I'm estimating that this new queen is from an egg that was laid at some point between the 3rd and 10th April, so she's now between 20 and 27 days old.

At what age will a virgin queen go on a mating flight?

Is this fixed or is it weather dependent? (it's warm but very windy here at the moment).

And at what age can I start to expect seeing eggs being laid?

Thanks a lot
David

 

[snoop]

That capped queen cell you left on the 17 , may not have hatched until 26 if it was justed capped on the 17th.

You need to give the queen 21 days after 26th . So it could be the 17 May before she starts laying . I find it is usually about 21 days after hatching , it could be sooner.

 

[gavin]

In a populous artificial swarm split it could be up to 5 weeks from hatching, although three may be more common. Queens in small nucs generally come into lay much quicker.

 

[Midland Beek]

Queens need warm weather for quick matings. However, as time goes by they will venture out in colder weather as things become more 'desperate'. All queens come into lay whether they have had a mating or not.

 

[birchdale]

All queens come into lay whether they have had a mating or not.

Where did this information come from then??????

Un-mated Q's are drone layers at best.