Queen Question

[wightbees]

Once the queen is mated does she go out on any other flights?

 

[thurrock bees]

Once she has mated and returned to the hive, she starts laying and wont leave unless she leaves with a swarm.

 

[Poly Hive]

Not being funny weight bees but as has already been mentioned today some reading is a good thing.

Yes she does.

I am going to play teacher here, and no good teacher gives the answer.

You need to read up and learn.

So weightbees when does the Queen fly after her mating flight?

No bright sparks chipping in please...............

PH

 

[oliver90owner]

Deleted, as I posted Poly Hive's answers 1 minute after his post!

RAB

 

[Tom Bick]

I agree a bit more reading will be good but I believe questions like this do help not just wightbees but the people looking and reading the posts who dont perhaps know the basics

 

[m100]

There are some beekeepers that say she goes out on mating flights every year or when she needs a top-up. Nothing documented though and the kind of thing you'd expect to hear this Thursday.

 

[Poly Hive]

That's a new legend to me... a Yorkshire story?

When does the queen fly after she is mated and laying?

When she has been dried off to use a dairy term (made to stop laying) and is made to fly with the swarm.

PH

 

[wightbees]

I will continue to ask Question to confirm what i want to no.
So she does not go on cleansing flight to eliminate body wastes then ?

 

[sherwood]

It used to be a commonly believed legend that Queens only go on one maiden flight, however it is now supposized that more than one maiden flight can take place but these will be close together. After that provided she has not been clipped she will only fly when she swarms, this of course could happen more than once in a season or her life.

 

[BKF Admin]

I will continue to ask Question to confirm what i want to no.

You carry on Wightbees,loads of new beekeepers learn lots from your questions.

Although I am perfect and know everything even I had to ask questions once..

 

[m100]

Poly Hive, some (and these are old timers) were indicating that beyond the initial group of mating flights, and maybe a year or two later she can venture out, sometimes taking a few hundred bees with her (not a full swarm) mate again and then return to the hive. A sort of false swarm.

Personally I don't believe a word of it, and it would appear that no one has documented such an occurrence. I'd love to be proved wrong though!

 

[BKF Admin]

Someone must have taken a pic of an old queen returning to the hive with a stream of drone entrails behind her if it were true.

Mind you it would explain why I lose my mated cliped queens after a couple of years with no queens cells in the hive

 

[Poly Hive]

I don't believe a word of it either.

Another old wives tale me thinks.

House bees remove the queens waste and feed her. All of this is usually clearly explained in a basic beekeeping book which I would urge all beginners to read.

Further EVERY beekeeper shoud know the basic table of development as with out that info in the head reading a colony is impossible.

PH