# how long before a bought queen lays eggs



## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

HOURS, not days.


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## Pugs (Jul 15, 2004)

I've read that if she has been kept in a queen bank it may take a few days or more to get back to laying condition (up to a week or more, I think I've read).

Pugs


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## Robert Hawkins (May 27, 2005)

2-4 days before she's laying a nice pattern of one egg per cell and 1500 eggs per day. Hours before she starts to lay and after one week of inactivity, throw her out.

There. We're all right.

Hawk


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## Joel (Mar 3, 2005)

Hawk needs to stop buying those slow queens. I've direct released queens which have been accepted and watched them go to a cell and assume the position almost immediately. If you check a frame 21 days after a queen release you'll see the bees hatching almost to the hour. ( I see it in our 2 queen units all the time) I've had queens banked for 2 weeks due to bad weather and they went right to work and did great all season. I've also had apparrently poorly bred, fat looking fresh queens that have spotty, slow patterns and high numbers of drones. Many, many factors effect queen quality and prolification.


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## iddee (Jun 21, 2005)

Hawk, I think you are thinking along the lines of a newly mated queen. Most bought queens have been laying in a nuc for some time before shipping. At least they better be tested before shipping or I won't be buying anymore from that breeder.


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## Robert Hawkins (May 27, 2005)

Sorry guys, I saw mated queen and thought newly mated. Probably cuz I try not to buy queens. Hope I didn't jinx it. 

Hawk


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## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

I've seen queens start laying the day you put them in. I've seen them not start for several days. I agree, it's a matter of how long they've been in a queen bank. If they've been banked for a while they have to get fattened back up.


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