Mating Flight ??

[coffin dodger]

Hi All,
I went across to the hive earlier and there's the queen outside with a small group of attendants, they seemed to be feeding and grooming her, she was there for about 20 minutes or so before crawling back into the hive, was this the aftermath of a mating flight ?

 

[jimmybee]

Yes it has I had a queen off some one the other week and it had not started to lay yesterday I found it returning from a filght

 

[Heather]

If a mating flight- why was she marked!!

 

[victor meldrew]

Possibly not properly mated and still within the window of opportunity for a top up ??
Some breeding stations mark virgin queens!
VM

 

[Skyhook]

If a mating flight- why was she marked!!

I wondered that. Have you marked a virgin, or has she been laying? If the latter, could they have been contemplating swarming?

 

[coffin dodger]

Could I just say it was a newbee mistake to mark the queen but at least it makes her easier to spot.

She was with a cast we caught three weeks ago, we left them well alone for 16 days before the first inspection, there was plenty of honey in the brood box but no sign of any eggs or brood, the general concensus of opinion was that we had a virgin queen, if she has mated, we'll wait another week to 10 days before we inspect again and see where we go from there.

Regards
CD

 

[plumberman]

Could I just say it was a newbee mistake to mark the queen but at least it makes her easier to spot.

She was with a cast we caught three weeks ago, we left them well alone for 16 days before the first inspection, there was plenty of honey in the brood box but no sign of any eggs or brood, the general concensus of opinion was that we had a virgin queen, if she has mated, we'll wait another week to 10 days before we inspect again and see where we go from there.

Regards
CD

Glad you didn't clip her! I'm sure you know why advice is not to mark.

 

[coffin dodger]

Glad you didn't clip her! I'm sure you know why advice is not to mark.

Sadly I only found this out after marking her, not a mistake I'll make again though, the reason behind the marking was to make her easier to spot if we needed to dispose of her and requeen due to the non existance of brood, it looks like we may be on a winner but only time will tell now.

At the risk of opening a very large can of worms, I'm afraid I'm not a 'wing clipper' I prefer to leave them as they are but thats just my personal opinion.

Regards
CD

 

[Outlander]

I really hope she does well for you CD.

 

[astabada]

What is the problem in marking a virgin queen?

 

[meidel]

Make them even easier to spot from the point of view of predators

 

[coffin dodger]

Update !

After leaving the hive well alone for a couple of weeks, did a quick inspection today and at long last I've got brood spotted eggs, lavae capped cells and a few drone cells so it looks like the queens come good at last. Happy, You bet I am I'll be even happier tomorrow though, picking up a 5 frame nuc and can get hive No2 inhabited.

Regards
CD

 

[Luminos]

After leaving the hive well alone for a couple of weeks, did a quick inspection today and at long last I've got brood spotted eggs, lavae capped cells and a few drone cells so it looks like the queens come good at last. Happy, You bet I am I'll be even happier tomorrow though, picking up a 5 frame nuc and can get hive No2 inhabited.

Regards
CD

Spotted eggs?
Is that normal?

 

[protheroe]

What is the problem in marking a virgin queen?

the bees can easily ball and kill virgin/young queens if disturbed.I have had 4 queens disappear this year and 3 of them had been laying at least 2 weeks.

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

Spotted eggs?
Is that normal?

 

[coffin dodger]

Spotted eggs?
Is that normal?

Spotted eggs come from the rare Yorkshire titeass bees, they dont like spending time and effort going for the full stripes, in true Yorkshire fashion, they eat all, drink all and pay nowt

Regads
CD