Did they accept a virgin queen?

[wbchive]

Months ago I split a colony. The queenless bees above the Snelgrove board steadfastly refused to raise a new queen. I gave them eggs from downstairs and they raised them as workers. Eventually I reunited top and bottom using newspaper (Yorkshire Post) and they fought like Samurai. Next day there was a large pile of dead bees outside the entrance. My wife, daughter and I were stung whilst in the garden some distance from the hives. When I opened the hive they went bonkers and stung me like it was going out of fashion (the bees, not the wife and daughter, although they do have their moments). I found there was no queen in the bottom box either, or eggs, or unsealed brood. In desperation I released into the brood box a virgin queen from a queen cell I'd just removed from another hive. I wasn't hopeful, and I was starting to think "petrol". That was two weeks ago. Yesterday I opened them up and they were as gentle as lambs. In the brood box were eggs in a lovely pattern and one per cell. I didn't search for the queen because I didn't want to cause a commotion, but she must have been there.
And so my saga ends, with the question, "Well, did they?"

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

Well it looks like it or a relative of Tremyfro's super fairy - the queen fairy has ben to visit

 

[Dishmop]

And so my saga ends, with the question, "Well, did they?"

They might be luring you into a false sense of security, and they'll be waiting for you in force next time you inspect...

 

[hiveabee]

Yorkshire post, Lancashire evening post would have been better

 

[Tremyfro]

Are there fairies in Bingley?

 

[TryingToLetThemBee]

Sounds like they did, and there's no obvious reason why they wouldn't have.

 

[Hebeegeebee]

Just-out-of-their-cell virgins are accepted better than older ones I understand.

 

[Finman]

Just-out-of-their-cell virgins are accepted better than older ones I understand.

Yes they do,but after 2 days but often just emerged is vanished. It seems to be very easy when bees show no reaction to the virgin.
But if you give a capped queen cell to the queenless hive, that is quite easy case.

 

[wbchive]

That explains it, then. Thank you for the replies. The bees did not react to her. She just walked down between the frames as if she'd always lived there. I expected that because she did not have the same scent they would treat her as an outsider and attack her. In future I will play it safe and put the capped cell in there.

 

[Marton]

Are there fairies in Bingley?

Of course there are

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies