I was going through a 3 frame nuc I set up a week or two ago and found eggs and a nice looking queen. So I decided to mark her so that in a few days I could put her in a regular hive. I was using the grab her by the wing then hold her legs and mark her technique. I had marked 2 other queens today using this method and it worked fine. So I grabbed her and tried to get her legs but she got away. I cupped my hands and kept her confined but was not able to get a hold of her again so I let her back onto the frame. I waited a minute than grabbed her wing again for a second try. She contorted into a ball (like her butt was touching her head) and did not move again. Dead! There was a slight quivering of something in/near her "queen parts" but no other movement. I set her back on the frame and the other bees paid no attention to her for a while then they started pulling her like she was just another dead bee.
Any clue why this happened? Can they stress out and die? I was liking the new marking technique but not if my queens start having coronaries every time I mark them.
I've never heard of the "grab her by the wing" technique. Maybe you squeezed her too hard?
No I just got her wing not her body at all.
The technique is from Robo here is a link to a youtube video he put up about it.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=R4Sb6J_uY3E
I have never seen anything like that happen. Is it possible you injured her when you cupped her in your hands?
I gave a talk and hands on at a bee club this weekend and one guy got the queen crawling on his hand and she flew/dropped back onto the top of the frames. He continued to chase her around the frame about 3 or 4 times until I stepped in and helped out. If there was ever a queen to have a heart attack it would have been her.
I dont know. She seemed fine on the frame after I put her back on it the first time, then like a switch when I picked her up the second time she croaked. I like the technique and obviously I need some more practice with it. What sucks the most is that I was so happy that my nuc had produced their own queen just like they were supposed to, then I killed her. Something bad is going to happen to me soon... karma is going to get me :)