# Direction taken on mating flights



## Birdman (May 8, 2009)

I think she would head to the drone's. The dca.


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

If she heads into the prevailing wind I'd say the reason is the smell of the DCA on the wind...


----------



## heaflaw (Feb 26, 2007)

Doesn't she just fly around and around until she finds a DCA?


----------



## Michael Bush (Aug 2, 2002)

>Doesn't she just fly around and around until she finds a DCA? 

I don't know. But if I'm hunting deer, I hunt into the wind and sniff if often to smell the bucks. I can't smell them if I hunt with the wind...


----------



## Yuleluder (Mar 2, 2005)

I would bet it has something to do with scent, the layout of the land, amount of drones in the area and probably a whole host of other factors


----------



## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

I thought (not sure its factual) that the nearest dca had a high percentage of drones of her own colony? Therefore, she would not seek out the nearest dca, whose scent presumably would be strongest, but instead head out based upon some other factors.


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

I don't know if that is so or not, but I seem to remember Larry Conners or someone saying something like Queens fly further away from their colony than Drones do. Which would keep them from mating w/ their brothers.


----------



## AR Beekeeper (Sep 25, 2008)

There is an article on DCA's in the September 2008 issue of Bee Culture by Clarence Collison. 

It states "Most colonies within the recruitment parameter of a DCA delegated equal proportions of males to a DCA. Consequently, the relatedness of a queen to her mates-and ultimately the inbreeding coefficient of the progeny- should be minimal." Collison was quoting a study done in Germany in 1998.


----------



## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

Not to thread-jack, but I wanted to throw this in while people are on this, as I've asked about it before to no clear answer. 

It seems to me that there has to be some reluctance for a virgin queen of a colony to mate with drones of the same colony. If there isn't, then it would be very unlikely that a queen would ever get far from her own hive on her mating flight without being mated several times by her own drones.

Unless the drones mating behavior is only active in a DCA - then the virgin queens of their own colony would never get past them on their way to finding the DCA. She might be mated beyond capacity in the first hundred yards out of the hive.

- up or downwind.

Adam


----------



## sqkcrk (Dec 10, 2005)

There many books about Queen mating, I imagine, and their habits. Maybe we should be researching them.


----------



## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

Adam Foster Collins said:


> It seems to me that there has to be some reluctance for a virgin queen of a colony to mate with drones of the same colony. If there isn't, then it would be very unlikely that a queen would ever get far from her own hive on her mating flight without being mated several times by her own drones.
> 
> Adam


Drones travel to the DCAs consistantly... when they leave, its for food. They simply are not "in the mood" unless they are in the DCAs. The queens put off a scent while in the DCAs that stimulates the drones. Once the first queen in a DCA has released her scent, every drone in the DCA will pretty much chase anything that flys through... They will not leave the DCA until the scent and their stimulation has faded... 

This is one of the reasons that drones are accepted in any hive... sometimes they are very late seaking shelter and can not make it all the way to their own colony... The other reason is simply the natural means of allowing lineages to cross and limit inbreeding...

Virgins seek DCAs... From what I understand, they travel in a clockwise circle after flying directly away from the hive entrance, inspecting each woodline or lengthy structure for DCAs. They will select a DCA or pass it up, depending upon the population of drones within it... If the DCA is under populated and she has traveled far to find it, she may decide to mate with whatever is there feeling urgency... This is where the poorly mated queens come from. 

Hope this helps!


----------



## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

rrussell6870,

Interesting, thank you. Now how do we know this? Can you (or anyone else) point me to some good books or studies on the mating of bees to find out more?

Thanks again,

Adam


----------



## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

This may b of some help... Pete (Beekuk) provided this link for another thread that we were discussing the same issues on.

http://www.montybees.org.uk/content/drone-congregation-areas

Hope this helps!


----------



## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Mr Russell, 

Thank you for the Montgomeryshore link. Interesting read.


----------



## rrussell6870 (May 14, 2009)

Actually, Pete (beekuk) posted that one in another thread that we were on. Usually I'm not too impressed by links that I see on the forums... but that group was thorough and precise. Thanks Pete.


----------



## Adam Foster Collins (Nov 4, 2009)

rrussell,

Thank you for posting that link. I'm tucking that one into my collection of "keepers".

Adam


----------

