...and was checking on my hives. One was package bees installed in April and the other is a split as explained here: http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,33416.0.html (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,33416.0.html)
No idea if I got my original queen in the nuc when split, but I put in some queen cells for good measure just in case.
While looking at my nuc I noticed a clump of bees (not many, maybe 25?) in front of the hive in the grass. I watched it for awhile and I swear that there was a queen cruising around in the mass. They were just chilling on the grass, a few bees arriving and a few bees leaving throughout. I went inside to put on a jacket so I could watch more and when I went out, the queen was gone. There were a few bees still milling about in the grass, but no queen. Outside of the entrance of the hive there were 10 - 15+ bees fanning.
What the hell was this?
Disoriented virgin queen? Queen trying to swarm?
Mating queen? Virgin fixing to mate? She was out and flying and leaving her scent all around.
Yeah. I thought about that but just found it was odd that she was walking around on the ground.
Either way I just left her alone, so I assume that nature figured it out.
I would say the fanning part at the entrance is a good sign. The queen probably flew back into the hive.
Maybe she was plugged up needed some time to................?
well you know
Tommyt