# Queen with something stuck to her...



## PDG honey (Jul 31, 2010)

Hey Rod. Its just the poor drones stuff still hanging out. She will be laying soon. Try not to mess with her to much. They will supercede her sometimes. Hope this helps. Phillip


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## Keth Comollo (Nov 4, 2011)

The workers will clean her up. Leave her alone for a couple of weeks to get used to laying. They know what to do!


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## [email protected] (May 12, 2010)

She's doing "The Walk of Shame" BTW not too many people see that in Queens. In 32 years, I never have.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

I've seen it twice, now. Just a few days apart, but I inspect almost every hive, every day (though I'll give them a break every once in awhile).

It was in mating nucs where I observed it - called, mating sign.


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## iivydriff (Apr 20, 2011)

In the spring of 2011 I caught a swarm in a residential area. I shook the swarm off into a nuc and then after a few minutes a few bees started collecting back in the spot where the swarm was located in the tree. The ball of bees was small so I was looking around in there for the queen and she was there. She had something hanging out of her just like what you described. I thought I had smashed her and it was her parts hanging out. I went ahead and put her in with her swarm and she turned out to be good queen. I started a thread on this forum back when it happened asking the same questions about the stuff hanging out of her. Yep its just the remains of a drones manhood. It looks like there is something bad wrong with queen when you see it, but she's fine.


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## guyross (Feb 18, 2011)

Our junk lol


PDG honey said:


> Hey Rod. Its just the poor drones stuff still hanging out. She will be laying soon. Try not to mess with her to much. They will supercede her sometimes. Hope this helps. Phillip


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## Riskybizz (Mar 12, 2010)

Joseph Clemens; but I inspect almost every hive, every day 

Just wondering why you inspect every hive every day? Do you mean just your mating nucs?


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## virginiawolf (Feb 18, 2011)

Hi rweakley and everyone, I snapped a pic of a queen that had just come back from mating this season and by chance she had that stuff hanging off her. You can see it in the photo. I asked some friends on the forum about it and they said it is called queen sign or mating sign. It's a sign she got mated. She has been a great queen. Here's 2 pictures of her.


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## Joseph Clemens (Feb 12, 2005)

Riskybizz said:


> . . .
> Just wondering why you inspect every hive every day? Do you mean just your mating nucs?


The primary reason I keep bees is because I'm fascinated by what they do and how they do it. That fascination is not satisfied by observing one colony. I am intensely curious how each and every colony performs as they go about their daily business. The only way to observe their daily progress, is to check them every day. Now, I have so many that it isn't always possible to examine each one every day, but I still try to observe many colonies each day.

If I weren't spending that much time, examining the bees, I probably would never have seen a queen with mating sign.


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## the doc (Mar 3, 2010)

I just saw this in one of my mating nucs. She looked rather proud of herself however


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## Oldtimer (Jul 4, 2010)

Where I live they call it a mating plug.

Also, according to what I read, each drone leaves it in when he mates, then the next drone takes it out before he can mate. The one from the last drone to mate gets removed by the bees or falls out after she returns to the hive.


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## Keefis (May 4, 2012)

I was lucky enough to witness the same thing on my first reared queen!
Now she is laying like crazy!!
It is the drones "2nd wind" so to speak, not only do more sperm get in but it blocks the others drones for a short while.


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