This queen emerged 30 days ago & is still not laying. I’ve just fed and checked for room & will give her 1 more week. The longest I’ve had to wait for a queen to start laying is 3-4 weeks from emergence.
Queen slow to start laying
- Thread starter Eyeman
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Pretty sure I've had one take 5 weeks.
Not that much time for build-up now. Whereabouts in the NW are you? I'm in Glossop
Not that much time for build-up now. Whereabouts in the NW are you? I'm in Glossop
OP
Hi thanks for your reply. Last inspection 10 days ago I was pretty sure they were Q+, even drawing foundation. Today found her walking over a frames of stores near the end frame so not that hopeful. Although size suggests mated as does her walk. If no joy will be able to unite them to some single nucs i’m overwintering. Moved from Manchester to Anglesey last year & moved 18 nucs across in March/April this year. Lived in Glossop in 1992-97 up past Norfolk st on Woodhead road at Lanehead House. Continental over here compared to Glossop.
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I used to go diving off Anglesey - seems to have its own (better) microclimate!
OP
Queen started laying approx 10 days ago- approx 5 weeks after emergence. Just starting to see extensions to cells indicating drone layer. Interesting it’s taken this long for her to start laying unfertilised eggs.
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Could be drone laying workers rather than the queen?
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a laying worker (they cannot lay anything apart from drones) at this time of the year would suggest a dud queen anyway, so regardless, sounds like the colony is doomed.
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In don't understand why it is taking so long for your newly mated queen to begin laying.
In my queen rearing operation, we catch the queens on day 16 after giving the mating nucs their queen cells.
From the age of the larvae present from the new queen, I would say the queens are laying on day 11 or 12
after celling. Any that don't have eggs on day16 are destroyed. The bit about a DLQ is concerning.
In my queen rearing operation, we catch the queens on day 16 after giving the mating nucs their queen cells.
From the age of the larvae present from the new queen, I would say the queens are laying on day 11 or 12
after celling. Any that don't have eggs on day16 are destroyed. The bit about a DLQ is concerning.
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Best guess is erratic British weather, Michael.
UK had a brilliant spring and late summer, but up-and-down in-between.
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September is always a chancy month to get a queen mated and laying - there is no guarantee that she was mated soon after emerging - good chance she never got mated at all
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