drones and queens and mating flights

[menteth]

Hi everyone,
What a spring here in the uk.

Quick question to you all.

Do drones chaperone a new queen (all from the same hive) on her mating flight?

I know they don't mate with their own queen, but wondered if they act as "wing men" on her first flight.

Do they guide her out and back, helping to prevent her from getting lost?

Thoughts please

Thanks all

 

[Erichalfbee]

No they don’t
There are some theories that experienced foragers know where the drone congregation areas are and take her there.

 

[menteth]

I'm not going into too much detail, but that's the best news ever.
(My drones were trapped in the hive when new queen went on her mating flight)

Dani, thank you.

 

[pargyle]

Drones don't but you do sometimes get an entourage of bees that fly off with the virgin queen on her mating flight - they tend not to stay with her for long and usually return to the hive quite quickly. The queen finds her own way to and back from the Drone Congregation Areas .... and there's a whole new question which nobody has succesfully answered as far as I know ... How does she know where to go ?

You would think that, with the current micro technology someone would have tagged and tracked a virgin queen on her maiden flight .. fascinating subject.

 

[Popparand]

If it's a cast with a virgin queen and the whole swarm has been moved away to stop them going back to base none of the bees will have any idea where to go. Another of life's unfathomable mysteries. Like why does toast always fall butter side down? Time for another glass of plonk methinks.

 

[Heather]

I am thinking that with a cast, they do a few reorientation flights before the queen ventures out on her flight..