Mating flights

[seymour]

Hi everyone

I observed hundreds of Bees milling around in front of the hive today. Thought they were going to swarm but they didnt. After a while they all settled down and normal service was resumed. There is a new queen in there, did I just observe a mating flight ? I didnt see them fly up high but it was all in progress when I spotted them.
Thanks.

John

 

[VEG]

My bees do this at almost the same time most days when the weather is warm. In my case it is the new flying bees testing out their wings and orientating themselves to where the hive is.

 

[seymour]

I hope so, as this is the hive that swarmed five times and has hardly any bees left in it. Going to check them tomorrow.

 

[susbees]

Five? Is there a record for casts?

 

[Midland Beek]

With mating flights you can sometimes get a lot of excited bees fanning and running around at the entrance. Not the time to change around the furniture.

 

[oliver90owner]

If those bees were the last of the larvae to have hatched, there may be no repeat for several weeks (until the new queen has a brood cycle, plus nearly three weeks for the house bees to become foragers). You will know when the prime swarm left and the four secondary swarms departed, so you can do the maths on when the last hatching brood will be 'orientating' before becoming your 'dwindling' supply of foragers for the next few weeks.

RAB

 

[milkermel]

Five? Is there a record for casts?

I thought mine was bad with 3! 5 sounds like a serious headache!!

 

[oliver90owner]

serious headache!!

Might be different in France (they do what they want) but over here that is a serious lack of beekeeping! Could be classed as anti-social for many.

Leaving that many queen cells, in the swarming season is just bad. No need for it unless one is away for two weeks or more!

That is why one needs much more gear than the number of colonies! I would be doing an A/S well before leaving and splitting the queenless box to weaken it further. One can always re-unite later, if needs be.

Not so easy if one has several colonies but one works around it most of the time, and if you have more than several you simply holiday at a different time of the year or get someone to keep an eye on them.

Regards, RAB


susbees,

Who wants a 'record' for being a failure? Waste of time, energy and money in my book. And I only counted four casts. He said 'swarmed five times'.

RAB