Whoops

[grizzly]

Going back 4 + weeks i made the mistake of releasing 4 virgins into the hive.
My assumption was they would battle for supremacy leaving 1.

The hive is most definitely lighter on bees, not much but a bit, so i guess a couple of the ladies left with a cast.

I am puzzled because since then i have seen no eggs, i added a test frame, they did not draw any QC, i have scoured the frames for the elusive virgin, cannot see a queen, again today, still no eggs, and no QC, i have added a QC from one of my good tempered colonies, again to see what the response is.

Anyone got any ideas ? Have i done the right tests ?

 

[BKF Admin]

You have a virgin in there,she may be stubby and take some finding.

 

[hedgerow pete]

new queens are very hard to spot because they are so small sometimes almost the same size as a worker or a drone

 

[grizzly]

You have a virgin in there,she may be stubby and take some finding.

Well she must be Uber stubby, or like running off onto the hive wall, little B*tch.

 

[marklaverda]

Might be an idea to mark them first....if you do this again.

 

[sherwood]

I and several others in my society have noticed that some queens are taking and exceedingl long time between hatching and laying 3-4 weeks has not been unusual and is of course very frustrating when your colony starts going backwards

 

[grizzly]

Might be an idea to mark them first....if you do this again.

If i do it again - Shoot me.

 

[Polyanwood]

If i do it again - Shoot me.

I think we would shoot you down, or sneer at you at least if you started marking virgins.

 

[Poly Hive]

Sorry but I had to laugh. He left in four cells and he is meant to mark the virgins? *Chuckles* That would be indeed a neat trick.

I marked my virgins. Makes life much easier.

Since when did a virgin taking 21 - 28 days become a long time? Absolutely normal in my experience.

Patience.

PH

 

[Polyanwood]

I didn't know anyone marked virgins. You learn something every day!

 

[i.b.nuttz]

Mark all my virgins as well before putting them in the nucs to mate each batch a different colour

 

[FROGDOGDIVER]

I think we would shoot you down, or sneer at you at least if you started marking virgins.

Can anyone tell me why some beekeepers seem to frown on marking a virgin queen?

I marked a virgin that hatched when I was checking a nuc with another QC which had hatched. I put her in a cage and took her home, fed her fondant and marked her. The next day I ran her in the front door of a queenless nuc. After 4 weeks the only nuc with a laying queen out of 3 was that one and as I had already marked her she was easier to see.

I felt that by marking her when I had her in my hand was much easier than searching through a box of bees for her later on. I have to say she was quite small on hatching but after she was mated she seemed a lot larger in size.

 

[jon]

The risk is that you get paint on the wings or damage the wings in some way.
I mark them when I see eggs for the first time.
Each to their own.

 

[FROGDOGDIVER]

Thanks Jon. Makes sense I suppose if you damage them with paint its a non starter.