Soft wet queen

[Polyanwood]

In carefully searching one of the hives that I thought had swarmed, we found a soft and wet looking queen, quite long, but not that fat and quite hairy. The bees were not paying much attention to her and she was not very agile. She was putting her abdomen into cells, but no sign of eggs (too early I would have thought)

Do you think she had recently emerged and was a virgin or what??

 

[Polyanwood]

No advice from anyone??? I'll try to take a photo next week to help you advise.

 

[Hombre]

Whenever I have seen virgins emerge it looks pretty much like any other queen except in size; certainly nothing that can be described as soft and wet.

So, No I don't think that she is a recently emerged virgin, but unfortunately I haven't the foggiest what might be wrong or match your description unless she was drenched in honey or something.

Just returned from a Friday/Saturday night out on the tiles with the girls?

 

[BKF Admin]

I am trying to picture the situation.

Thin = Virgin
Hairy = Possible Virgin as a new queen
Not agile = Mated

Show us a pic..

 

[Finman]

.
Illustaration fits to butterfly caterpillar....

 

[Polyanwood]

Funny. She looked anaemic, the colour of pale butter and the hair was on her thorax. She was full length.

[QUOTE Hombre]Just returned from a Friday/Saturday night out on the tiles with the girls? [/QUOTE]

Although I do have a weakness for partying, - 2 bee buddies were with me and can corroborate my story.

 

[Hivemaker.]

A recently emerged virgin,plenty of them at the moment in the bee world.

 

[Polyanwood]

Thanks Hivemaker.

 

[Widdershins]

Funny. She looked anaemic, the colour of pale butter and the hair was on her thorax. She was full length.

[QUOTE Hombre]Just returned from a Friday/Saturday night out on the tiles with the girls?

Although I do have a weakness for partying, - 2 bee buddies were with me and can corroborate my story.[/QUOTE]


He he he!! Think he meant the Queen, not you (or thats how I read it!)

 

[Hombre]

Most certainly referring to the state of the Queen and not that of the observer. Honest. It must have been the hair on the thorax that introduced the doubt.

the only time I have seen a Queen of the colour described is when a cell has been opened about a day before natural emergence while removing cells.

 

[Finman]

.
I have seen hundreds of virgin queens, just emerged, non emerged and older.
Poly's illustration does not suit what i have seen.

They are never wet.
They are more or less hairy.

When the queen pushes air to its body to shape its forms and to get wing dry, it is guite round and pale color. Later it gets the color which will be.

Queen 1-2 days before emerging

 

[Polyanwood]

Great photos. They are very fair bees. She did look so pale that it made her look wet and more like a pupa perhaps. Can't wait to see if she is still there.

 

[Hombre]

Thanks Finman, the one in the bottle matches my description and I can't see any hairs there either.
Maybe I have this blockage that I don't notice an excess of body hairy on women.

 

[Finman]

.

When I take queen cells from the hive, queen comes often out because it is disturbed.

 

[Polyanwood]

not a soft wet queen anymore

Saw the funny looking queen yesterday and she looked dry, shorter and fatter.. infact like a normal virgin I suppose. She was a dark ginger colour.

 

[Poly Hive]

Another mystery, that was never mysterious laid to rest.

PH

 

[Polyanwood]

Dull to you Poly Hive, but I learned something from it.

 

[Finman]

Saw the funny looking queen yesterday and she looked dry, shorter and fatter.. infact like a normal virgin I suppose. She was a dark ginger colour.

Sounds me like drone = he

 

[Polyanwood]

No she was a queen...all the bees were turning to face her and she had the special walk and didn't have big eyes... but she did look quite different from last week. I suppose she might be a different queen, but probably not.

Do you think that virgins that look smallish ever go on to be fantastic laying queens??

 

[Poly Hive]

I never said dull. The thread was worth while for the queen pics posted up by Finman.

Never ever judge a queen by size. Judge her by her brood pattern and her workers behaviour. How she looks is utterly immaterial.

PH