# Watched a queen orient yesterday.



## AstroBee (Jan 3, 2003)

Wow! Very nice.


----------



## Robbin (May 26, 2013)

AWESOME, thanks for sharing the pic, something we will probably never see...


----------



## roberto487 (Sep 22, 2012)

Or she had come back from mating? She looks huge!


----------



## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Cool. Have you ever seen where the male "junk" was hangin out of a queen? Caught that once and wish I'd taken pics. Good job man.


----------



## RayMarler (Jun 18, 2008)

Great catch with the camera. I've never seen a queen coming or going from a hive in all my times watching them. I saw a commotion in front of one of my mating nucs last week that I suspect was a returning mating flight. I watched for a few minutes but was not able to see a queen coming back home.


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Aunt Betty,
Yes, this year I saw one that had tattered remnant of mating sign.



roberto487 said:


> Or she had come back from mating? She looks huge!


She hadn't mated. She was coming out flying around for a bit then landing again. 
She looks so big, in part, because she is closer to the camera than the other bees.


----------



## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

You're a really good photographer.
Which camera are you using to take these pics?


----------



## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Hats off JW, thats a friggin awesome catch. G:thumbsup:


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

They are stills from the video I took with my phone. I should have taken the DSLR out there, though. Maybe if I get a chance on a mating day I'll try again.


----------



## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

jwcarlson said:


> They are stills from the video I took with my phone. I should have taken the DSLR out there, though. Maybe if I get a chance on a mating day I'll try again.


Just don't stand in her way! Good Luck Brother. G


----------



## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

dup. :scratch: G


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Not in her way for sure. In fact I'm nervous to even mow the lawn.


----------



## fraz6020 (Jun 8, 2015)

Those are really cool pics jw. You were lucky to witness that and then to get those pics. AWSOME


----------



## fraz6020 (Jun 8, 2015)

I was wondering Do the Queens have a distinct sound when they come back to the hive? I have noticed when my drones fly back they are easy to ear. They make a louder buzz. I was wondering if Queens were the same way?


----------



## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Good question fraz. My calendar isn't as perfect as it should be. I think in the spring when doing splits, I am going to try and be around the yard on the days they should be flying. It would be easy if it were the hives at the house, but, I open mate all my virgins at the farm. Got a couple beeks around the house that buy packages year after year, I want to continue to go forward.... not backward. G


----------



## beepro (Dec 31, 2012)

Nope, the queen will make a soft, fast buzzed sound
when she took off almost half the sound of what a drone made.
In a split second she is off to no where land. Her speed
is faster than the workers and the drones. Next time I know not to
inspect the mating nuc hive after 12pm.


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

Popped it today... emergence day + 9. Leaving town for the long weekend and didn't want to put the food to them without her laying. 




She had only about a few hundred cells to go before it was entirely full of egga in every empty cells. Crazy fast, she oriented Sunday laid the nuc up by Friday. I'll take it. 
Added their second story with a frame of emerging brood, a couple frames of mostly drawn comb, and a couple empties. Pollen patty and syrup on, OAV Sunday or Monday while they have no capped brood.


----------



## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Shazam! Nothing like late season success. :thumbsup: G


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

All my colonies are scattered in a 270* ring around my house 2-4 miles away by air. Most colonies are carrying or produced some drones in August. She shouldn't have had an issue with drone population.


----------



## biggraham610 (Jun 26, 2013)

Don't forget the bees in the trees 

I have to do just the opposite when raising queens, I take them away from here to take the neighboring yearly packages' drones out of the equation. I wish I could use this yard for my mating yard, but the genetics I want are about 8-10 miles down the road on my farm. G


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

It's not like I have the area saturated. Certainly some wild ones and I bet plenty of package drones. I figure this late it is probably mostly strong colonies having drones (and laying worker hives). I am going to graft very early next year to try to get in before all the the flow hive bees start making drones. 

Of course I have package bees making drones, mine have overwintered and mated locally, but it's pretty obvious it's mostly Italian genes here. Went from black Carni to almost fully yellow in about 4-5 generations.


----------



## aunt betty (May 4, 2015)

Have 4 nucs that are queenless and have been pacing like a nervous daddy the last week. I think one is due to be laying but the rest are a week behind. I'm waiting as long as I can stand it to look because yes, I've spooked a virgin off a comb before and that'll for sure elevate your anxiety level.


----------



## jwcarlson (Feb 14, 2014)

This lady got mated just fine, I boosted the nuc with a frame of capped brood from another nuc that is teetering on the edge of swarming about a week ago. Popped that frame out Saturday to find the queen had laid it up both sides, capped pattern looks great and they are trending towards having enough bees to winter, I believe. Time to put another patty on them and a gallon of 2:1 and let them get after it.


----------

