# How long can you confine a virgin queen?



## jonathan (Nov 3, 2009)

8 days from emergence is no problem. The earliest a mating flight takes place is 5 or 6 days from emergence anyway.
I have accidentally locked in queens in mating nucs for a couple of weeks and they usually fly and mate within 48 hours of being released.


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

21 days after emerging if they are allowed to finally mate they will likely be drone layers.


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## gezellig (Jun 11, 2014)

Where in TN out of curiosity?


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## kilocharlie (Dec 27, 2010)

One of my worries would be "Is there a DCA (drone congregating area) near the Tennessee mating yard?" 

You'd be smart to get a drone mother colony or 2 near by if there is not.

Don't figure the queens a failure if there is no sign of eggs after one week. It can take up to 3 weeks to get things going right, and I would not judge laying pattern until a queen has been laying for at least 2 weeks.


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## phopkinsiii (May 4, 2014)

jonathan said:


> 8 days from emergence is no problem. The earliest a mating flight takes place is 5 or 6 days from emergence anyway.
> I have accidentally locked in queens in mating nucs for a couple of weeks and they usually fly and mate within 48 hours of being released.


Thanks for the help.


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## phopkinsiii (May 4, 2014)

gezellig said:


> Where in TN out of curiosity?


Hawkins County, about 30 miles from the VA line.


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## phopkinsiii (May 4, 2014)

kilocharlie said:


> One of my worries would be "Is there a DCA (drone congregating area) near the Tennessee mating yard?"
> 
> You'd be smart to get a drone mother colony or 2 near by if there is not.


I don't know anything about the local bee population. It's a big farming area, so I'm sure there are some bee yards.
Just for curiosity, where does one get a drone mother colony?
One of my motives for starting the bee yard up there is to get away from the africanized bees that are so bad in this area. I had one hive get so vicious that I could barely work it.
Thanks.


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