during a routine inspection i was just looking at a queen cup and she just walked right in front of my eyes. normally i am looking for her for what seems like forever and i never see her. sorry for seeming like an overly excited little kid but this is the first time i've seen her and i had to tell somebody.
Congratulations, Bulldog! It's always exciting to find the queen and it never gets old! Glad she made an appearance for you!
I know what you mean. I can never find the Queen. I have one hive with a marked Queen and I can't hardly find her. :shock:I looked the other day and didn't find her but found eggs standing on end in one frame so quit looking. I have a hard time seeing eggs most times also.
I know the feeling well. You will get better at it with time.
Your friends will also start to dodge you as well..."Here he comes, all he wants to talk about is those stupid honeybees" :-D
http://bushfarms.com/beesqueenspotting.htm (http://bushfarms.com/beesqueenspotting.htm)
yes its exciting, took me a couple hours but I didnt give up, After I found one it didnt take long to find others
I've always found it easier to spot her if I blur my eyes a bit: looking at the frame a little squinty-eyed allows you (I believe) to see the color differences and generally she is usually either lighter or darker than the workers. The patterns on her are often muted and she has less striping and of course longer than the workers.
It isn't one of those "practice makes perfect" things though, so often she snakes in and out between the others and is camouflaged. Just like a stampede of zebras and trying to pick out a rare one that has a more brownish stripe that than all the rest.
Congrats, it is always a good feeling to find her, and a plump egg laying machine is a wonderful thing to find indeed.
"Your friends will also start to dodge you as well..."Here he comes, all he wants to talk about is those stupid honeybees" " LOL been there
"Your friends will also start to dodge you as well..."Here he comes, all he wants to talk about is those stupid honeybees"
Sounds like my wife. Enough about the bees already.
Yup, I work at a school so now I have teachers, parents, staff and kids that are all potential grounds for me dumping bee and chicken stories off on.