How?

[Do224]

I just went to top up the rapid feeder on one of my hives and found a single bee struggling in the syrup…it was only the blooming queen!!

The feeder was full of bees taking syrup but no others had ended up in the syrup...they were all safely within the plastic barrier. I couldn’t believe it. I scooped her out and put her in the entrance although she’s very weak and obviously covered in syrup!

First photo is on the Perspex crown board and second one near the entrance. I had to manually pick her up and put her through the entrance. I think I’m right…that is a queen isn’t it?!

 

[enrico]

I can't be sure, but I would have done what you did! Never known one go in a feeder before!

 

[Wilco]

Any chance they've superceded and that's the old one who they're trying to get rid of?

 

[Ian123]

That doesn’t look like the queen to me. Bloated for sure but head and thorax wrong.

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

That doesn’t look like the queen to me. Bloated for sure but head and thorax wrong.

 

[Do224]

Here’s some more pics…it was a decidedly big bee! Seemed way too big for a worker. Would be great to think it wasn’t the queen though…

 

[jenkinsbrynmair]

it's no bigger than the others - just plastered in syrup

 

[Erichalfbee]

Look at the thorax. Hairy. Queens are bald.

 

[Do224]

Look at the thorax. Hairy. Queens are bald.
View attachment 34145

Pleased to hear you all think so. I was convinced it must be the queen…it really was a lot bigger than the other bees

 

[Mabee]

Also her legs all quite dark.

 

[user 819]

If it was a queen the workers would have been all over like a dose of salts.

Hard to tell when they are wet and soggy but could be a drone ?
Certainly not Q like.

 

[Erichalfbee]

Also her legs all quite dark.

Good spot. Queens' legs are red

 

[Do224]

Well I’m elated with the consensus that it’s not the queen. I must admit, it really was a very long bee so I was pretty concerned that it could have been. I even thought it might have been a hornet when I first saw it in the feeder, due to its size. There was also a couple of dead bees in the feeder from a few weeks ago and they were much smaller.

 

[elainemary]

Another ti

Well I’m elated with the consensus that it’s not the queen. I must admit, it really was a very long bee so I was pretty concerned that it could have been. I even thought it might have been a hornet when I first saw it in the feeder, due to its size. There was also a couple of dead bees in the feeder from a few weeks ago and they were much smaller.

Another tip when identifying a queen is to look at the length of her wings in ratio to her body length, they are always much shorter compared to workers. For the worker they almost reach the tip of their abdomen vs around half way down for the queen. Here’s pics to illustrate. Along with her lighter coloured legs

 

[Do224]

Another ti

Another tip when identifying a queen is to look at the length of her wings in ratio to her body length, they are always much shorter compared to workers. For the worker they almost reach the tip of their abdomen vs around half way down for the queen. Here’s pics to illustrate. Along with her lighter coloured legs

That was another reason I thought it was the queen…it does have short wings and also chunkier legs

 

[Wilco]

Could it be a laying worker? I'm sure I've read their abdomens can elongate. As for the bloating, are there any diseases that can do it or could being immersed in syrup have some sort of osmotic effect (never seen anything like it in my bees when they get into the syrup though).

 

[elainemary]

That was another reason I thought it was the queen…it does have short wings and also chunkier legs

View attachment 34155

I must say it was the wing length on the bee in your original photo that made me wonder too about whether a worker vs a Q. However the legs are dark and I’ve always seen long, yellow legs on my queens. Thorax is hairy and photos not of the right scale to see if a corbicula / pollen basket on her hind legs is there. Mystery snd interesting!
To reassure, I’ve had a queen smothered in Fondant before (from being in a cage) far worse than in your photo, I just returned her without attempting to do anything more and she was cleaned up and laying away on the next visit. You’ve done everything you can and I’d now just leave alone, given the time of year and hopefully all will be well in the spring. Bees are amazing at recovering from everything we throw at them!