Swarming again

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drex

Queen Bee
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Location
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Number of Hives
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Brood and half. Half on top. This colony swarmed recently, such that the new queen has come into lay in the last week, as at yesterday's inspection there was good pattern of eggs and unsealed brood. However there were half a dozen open QC's on bottom of the half frames. Knocked down to one. Cannot see the queen.(not usually a problem). However I have no kit. Even the boxes and frames for recycling have been pressed back into service. I am going to extract (early for here) next weekend.
Suggestions as to best way forward. Thinking of just letting them do their own thing as obviously "swarmy" .
 
I've read of a similar event on this forum this year. It has been suggested that the new queen may have begun laying before completing her final mating flights. If this is the case she may have 'bought it' on a late flight with these as replacement queen cells. I guess it might be handy to know if there is a queen in there or not, easiest way to find out would be to go back in 3-4 days and look for eggs.
 
It has been suggested that the new queen may have begun laying before completing her final mating flights.

Can anyone here lead me to some writings that suggest queens go on mating flights after commencing to lay? I don't know where this supposition has come from but I was always led to believe that once she starts laying - that's it no more mating flights.
 
Can anyone here lead me to some writings that suggest queens go on mating flights after commencing to lay? I don't know where this supposition has come from but I was always led to believe that once she starts laying - that's it no more mating flights.

Well ...None of my bee books suggest that a queen goes on more mating flights after starting to lay and I've never heard anything like it ? Multiple mating flights before starting to lay are common and a queen may return on consecutive days until she has gathered sufficient sperm to keep her going for the rest of her laying life.

Indeed, I recall from somewhere that once a queen has been successfully mated her morphology changes to an egg layer and she is no longer capable of mating ... can't remember where I picked this snippet up.
 
Can anyone here lead me to some writings that suggest queens go on mating flights after commencing to lay? I don't know where this supposition has come from but I was always led to believe that once she starts laying - that's it no more mating flights.

As far as I know that is correct.
 
If thats true why don't queens go out and get refilled instead of turning drone layers?

Their first experience put them off?
 
Sounds like just forum supposition then. Still worth establishing if there is a queen in there or not.
 
Can anyone here lead me to some writings that suggest queens go on mating flights after commencing to lay? I don't know where this supposition has come from but I was always led to believe that once she starts laying - that's it no more mating flights.

That may be true in the Valleys where the Chapel still rules, but Drex has Essex girls.
 
From memory, I think it was DanBee who provided a response to a similar query, noting that once she starts laying, the physiology of the Queen changes so that sperm can no longer enter her spermatheca.
 
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I suppose that queen is somehow violated or it has something wrong. I think that bees want a new queen. It is better to buy a laying queen.
 
I've read of a similar event on this forum this year. It has been suggested that the new queen may have begun laying before completing her final mating flights. If this is the case she may have 'bought it' on a late flight with these as replacement queen cells. I guess it might be handy to know if there is a queen in there or not, easiest way to find out would be to go back in 3-4 days and look for eggs.

and

From memory, I think it was DanBee who provided a response to a similar query, noting that once she starts laying, the physiology of the Queen changes so that sperm can no longer enter her spermatheca.

That was me, My eventual diagnosis was DLQ and "they" had bumped her off, raising EQCs on drone brood. I merged and started again. No need to suppose post-laying mating flights, which the consensus is against.
 
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