Queen Fainting during marking?

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"Bees don't have lungs, so squeezing them doesn't "suffocate" them"

Yes it does, they have to flex their abdomen like and accordion to breath through their trachea tubes so squeezing them will suffocate them.
 
Marked a queen today, and she was very calm, then wriggled at the last minute, and got a smear of paint across her back. I'm always very chary of anything touching the queen's abdomen, whether on the back or the underside, so I was worried about her.

She sat still on the comb for a bit, flexing her body and shifting her wings about, presumably to free up any stickiness from the paint. Then she pottered off and started laying again. But I noticed that whilst she was still, the workers started to pile on top of her. I gently brushed them away. Once she started moving again they took no more interest than usual. I had a look about half an hour later, and she seemed fine, apart from a bad make-up job.
 
I've just had this happen to me. I was convinced I'd been clumsy but couldn't quite see how. After 5 mins resting on the lid of the next hive in the sun a few attendants gatehered round gave a bit of TLC and hey presto. Popped her back in the hive had a quick look ten mins later and appears happily walking round frame. Could do without that fun every day.
 

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