does this pale queen look right to you?

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MerryBee

House Bee
Joined
Jun 14, 2014
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Location
Sussex
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National
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Does this queen look right to you. ?

She had emerged into the hive from a queen cell on a frame taken from another (better) colony. However i suspected that due to very poor weather on the day I transferred the frame, that the cell might have been chilled.
So a week later I checked to see if a queen had emerged, and found that she had. She was only a couple of inches away from the cell she had emerged from and hardly moving. And as you can see from the photo, she is very pale. I have never seen a queen so pale.
I thought she didnt look right, almost not fully developed, so I removed her and gave the colony another sealed cell.
However on reflection i thought perhaps I had been hasty and she was OK .
Any thoughts?

PHOTO-2021-05-05-20-14-08 (5).jpgPHOTO-2021-05-05-20-14-08 (2).jpgPHOTO-2021-05-05-20-14-08 (1).jpgPHOTO-2021-05-05-20-14-08.jpg
 
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It was a sealed cell when transferred, but I dont know how long sealed. Thats why I left it for a week before having a look. Its possible she had only just emerged when I looked.
In my experience newly emerged virgin queens generally scamper around quite quickly.
Not moving at all now as she went in the freezer.

I agree, from the photos I now cant see anything physically wrong with her except perhaps her colour?
 
Might have been worth making up a three frame nuc for her to see if she was ok, to late now though.
 
She looks fine to me also a good size for a virgin not the pointy bum(pics can be deceptive)Are you sure you got the right 1😂
 
Would probably have made a decent queen once she'd matured a bit.

This one turned out good:
On the frame she looked just like this, almost white compared with the workers. Interesting that she turned out a good one. Was she darker when mature?
 
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Might have been worth making up a three frame nuc for her to see if she was ok, to late now though.
yes that would have been a good idea. Easy with hindsight !
 
Q development interference (chilling, PPB premature pulling* etc.) is all about the wings. The rest, such as colour can develop later.

*Self-referential irony alert: please no offence: I have just done one - cells seem to be sealing and opening slowly this year - and she was fine.
 
On the frame she looked just like this, almost white compared with the workers. Interesting that she turned out a good one. Was she darker when mature?
Yes, they colour up quite quickly.
 
Q development interference (chilling, PPB premature pulling* etc.) is all about the wings. The rest, such as colour can develop later.

I seem to remember there was some research done a few years ago into chilling affecting later queen colour. This is something which Jay Smith, who made a living selling light coloured Italians, also observed.
 
Thanks TTLTB and Rolande. I didnt know a queens colour could develop after emergence.
 
Thanks all. I was too hasty. Should have left her to see how she delevoped.
 
Thanks all. I was too hasty. Should have left her to see how she delevoped.
Well, everything is a bit of a judgement call on our part. If you had left her she may have been defective and cost your colony weeks of good development time. None of us can ever know for sure when we make this kind of decision.
 

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