Maiden flight

[Headnavigator]

Hived a large swarm Tuesday night with a virgin queen. Sitting watching this lunchtime she's been in and out several times just around the hive entrance, and sat on the front of the hive apparently 'pumping' her abdomen for a minute or more. There are quite a few drones coming and going, and a generally high level of workers coming and going but also hovering round the entrance. Weather warm and sunny but a little breezy. Is it too much to hope that she's about to go off on her mating flight, or does this indicate the possibility that the swarm might leave again?

 

[tkwinston4]

Mating or swarming????

Hived a large swarm Tuesday night with a virgin queen. Sitting watching this lunchtime she's been in and out several times just around the hive entrance, and sat on the front of the hive apparently 'pumping' her abdomen for a minute or more. There are quite a few drones coming and going, and a generally high level of workers coming and going but also hovering round the entrance. Weather warm and sunny but a little breezy. Is it too much to hope that she's about to go off on her mating flight, or does this indicate the possibility that the swarm might leave again?

I see no one has answered this. I have the same question. Today is day 16; hatch day and there are lots and lots of bees flying everywhere in front of the hive. They aren't going anywhere just hanging around the front.

Can i expect a swarm to be leaving or a queen off out for a bit of sexy time??

 

[tkwinston4]

Not to worry, they just swarmed!! Got em tho.

 

[ElectricBlueBee]

My first new swarm caught 3 weeks ago, no activity or sight of queen. Just nectar gathering.

Inspected Sunday and they're well away with pollen and larvae feeding.

My mentor said to give the new swarm 4 weeks as she's probably a virgin queen. Seems he was right.

 

[Headnavigator]

Further to question: this pretty lively (pingy, followy) swarm settled down later that afternoon and their behaviour has been exemplary since. My guess is that HM had mated that afternoon though no flag in sight, and they settled following on from that. However - no pollen going in as yet and I want to leave them another day or so before doing an inspection or even having a look inside. Time will tell.
History was that they were the umpteenth swarm from a friend's colony, she'd been knocking off Q cells like mad but last Tuesday two casts came from that hive, two virgins, but one swarm went missing after they were both skepped, and we think they may have subsequently combined, weird as it may seem. Hence my curiosity as to just what was going on!

 

[RoseCottage]

Thanks for the description HN...although you haven't had a lot of responses I appreciate your thread. Very interesting.

If this is an umpteenth swarm then will they do the same thing next year or do you plan on swapping queen genes?

All the best,
Sam

 

[Headnavigator]

Ohhhh yes! I'm getting curious about queen rearing and bee breeding and will do what I can to head the two colonies I have in the right direction. This is from a position of fairly profound ignorance, but I'm watching and learning.

 

[Gardenbees]

They can also do quite a bit of orientation when a virgin queen is out and about, possibly to help guide her. This can look swarmy. Then, when the first lot of new flyers emerge, they do a lot of orientation flights, looping and orbiting around the hive. It's nice to watch them enjoying their first flights and getting their bearings, but it does look rather like they're preparing to swarm. They tend to do it in the afternoon for some reason. So once your queen has mated and her first brood are up to the flying stage, you might see a lot of lively activity on top of the usual fetching and carrying. Assuming they stay put for long enough!

 

[Headnavigator]

once your queen has mated and her first brood are up to the flying stage, you might see a lot of lively activity on top of the usual fetching and carrying. Assuming they stay put for long enough!

Thanks for the warning! Meanwhile I shall just wait patiently - or as near to that as I can get!

 

[Headnavigator]

Have held off disturbing them for an inspection until today - gawd it kills me to be so patient! Then jubilation, eggs, larvae, brood - think she must have mated that day, and another thread suggests the presence of drones around the hive could also have been an indicator. Really chuffed that I saw her that day and guessed what was going on. Makes it worthwhile to spend every spare minute reading the bees as well as the books!

 

[steve1958]

Well done.

 

[Winker]

My virgin queen went for her maiden flight today, and the girls came out to release some lemon smelling Pheromones so HM could find her way back.

 

[oliver90owner]

I have four 3-frame nucs in my garden at the moment. The earliest any should have emerged was Saturday, if that.

Today my wife asked if they were swarming; bees all around, thick in the air. Eventually they settled down but the entrance on one nuc was almost completely covered and bees running all over the place from at least two of the nucs (I was in T-shirt, so didn't want to go closer than about 2m from the nearest nuc entrance).

I am thinking that is very early if some of these queens are out and about.

RAB

 

[Headnavigator]

Hope so! You'll be able to tell us in about a week. It's great to be given enough clues by the bees to be able at least to make a guess as to what's going on. Good luck!

 

[Teemore]

Headnavigator, I liked your comment about reading the bees as well as reading the books! I think too many people fail to properly read what they bees are doing and that is when the trouble starts!! (Not that i would ever fail to notice what my colonies are doing or misinterpret what I see of course!)
It is interesting reading about the various experiences other Beeks have in terms of observing when a virgin queen gets mated and comes into lay - the weather here hasn't been so good over the past few weeks so i am waiting to see if and when a few new queens start to lay.

 

[Headnavigator]

Headnavigator, I liked your comment about reading the bees as well as reading the books! I think too many people fail to properly read what they bees are doing and that is when the trouble starts!!

Hello Teemore - I wish I could take the credit for that but I think the idea filtered into me from John Harding's book, 'An holistic way in saving the honeybee', where he says, "Read what you see, don't see what you have read."
Good general principle that I've come up against in many fields, eg aviation, or medicine, to name but two, where it can be a matter of life or death that one sees what is, not what one expects to see!

 

[oliver90owner]

from John Harding's book

That little book, even though not a 'master-piece' of writing certainly does have some useful bits in it! Still checking on varroa etc and the positions/directions of hives. Well worth the tenner it cost, methinks.

RAB

 

[Headnavigator]

Have dowsed and placed my hives according to the John Harding prescription, wonder how many others have done the same and how we might compare outcomes?

 

[drstitson]

"Well worth the tenner it cost, methinks"

certainly worth the postage for a look at the "BKF library" copy.

a few interesting points and some madness.

how many solitary lightning struck trees don't have bee friendly cavities?

i'm in process of getting together spare MB poly bits to allow construction of a Harding style queen rearing nuc set-up for next year.

 

[madasafish]

Strangely enough I read the book and checked my alignments with compass.. all correct to within 5 degrees or so..

Can't succeed at dowsing yet tho... maybe no ley lines here?