Mating swarm or cast?

[Beefriendly]

.
Beefriendly, you mean that the colony went up to tree to look and protect virgins mating.
Then they returned home.

IT is not exactly what mating researches tell about mating flights..

No I don't mean that Finman....my eyesight was not good enough to see if the virgin was still among them.
This behavior of an entourage of bees emerging with the virgin on the start of her mating flight has been described previously in several books. It's presumed she then flies off to DCA minus her entourage.
I've seen about 3 of these mating flight entourages and for reasons I don't understand they always seem to spend time buzzing about in tree tops and look like a swarm about to settle but then they return "home"....whether they await the return of their now mated queen is unknown by me at least.
It certainly doesn't happen on every virgins nuptial flight, just the occasional one.

 

[Finman]

.
Why I can't find any scientific text about mating swarm from internet?

.

 

[Beefriendly]

My goodness, if it can't be found on t'internet it can't possibly be true...

 

[Finman]

My goodness, if it can't be found on t'internet it can't possibly be true...

However, I trust more on university rearchers than hobby beekeepers

Yeah. I have asked from some real queen rearers too, and they know nothing about mating swarms. It must be that famous different climate.

 

[Finman]

My goodness, if it can't be found on t'internet it can't possibly be true...

What means "possibly true"?

 

[Beefriendly]

What means "possibly true"?

It might be true......

The thinking from talking to other beekeepers is that it may be related in some way to the secondary and tertiary caste swarms which head out with a virgin queen.
i.e they all go rushing off thinking it's swarm time...but it isn't they've got it wrong as it's really queenies mating time....so she buggers off for some adult fun leaving the rest of the girls behind sitting around in the tree tops buzzing about pondering what to do..... before deciding to head home.
Or might be something else entirely.....as no-one has published research on it we can only guess. One author thought it might be a mechanism for protecting the virgin from becoming some birds lunch at the start of her most perilous journey, but could give no explanation as to why it was uncommon.

 

[colinc]

It might be true......

The thinking from talking to other beekeepers is that it may be related in some way to the secondary and tertiary caste swarms which head out with a virgin queen.
i.e they all go rushing off thinking it's swarm time...but it isn't they've got it wrong as it's really queenies mating time....so she buggers off for some adult fun leaving the rest of the girls behind sitting around in the tree tops buzzing about pondering what to do..... before deciding to head home.
Or might be something else entirely.....as no-one has published research on it we can only guess. One author thought it might be a mechanism for protecting the virgin from becoming some birds lunch at the start of her most perilous journey, but could give no explanation as to why it was uncommon.

I would say you can’t publish your research without some sort of conclusion and proof of that conclusion which would explain the lack of researchers publishing reports on this.
I am yet to witness a “mating swarm” but I am relatively new to the game.
If we get to a point where we only trust repeatedly published and reported data then do we trust the bible? Apart from president trumps Twitter posts the bible must be the most republished literature ever


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[Bakerbee]

And father christmas

 

[Anduril]

However, I trust more on university rearchers than hobby beekeepers

Yeah. I have asked from some real queen rearers too, and they know nothing about mating swarms. It must be that famous different climate.

Would this sway you Finny https://youtu.be/XynZm9iNT_Y

 

[Finman]

Would this sway you Finny https://youtu.be/XynZm9iNT_Y

???????

 

[Anduril]

???????

 

[Finman]

??????? Hi, Medication?

 

[Hunajavelho]

I have seen it too.

Back when I had swarmy carniolans from Slovenia. A swarm had gone a few days earlier.
I had put a ripe queen cell in after this and after destroying swarmcells.
As I came to the hive an umbrella sized swarm flew over the field at the height of 3-5meters. Lots of drones in the swarm. I was driving a 4wheeler underneath this "swarm".

I think you need extremely swarmy bees to see this phenomenon.