I think I witnessed the return of the queen from her mating flight yesterday afternoon. Here is what I saw.
There were about 50 bees "bearding" and "fanning" at the entrance to the hive. A few bees were on the ground in front of the hive also "fanning". It looked like some of the videos I have seen of swarms "fanning". Their abdomens were high in the air and their wings going strong. It did not look like the fanning you see when the hive is too warm (abdomens not in the air). As I watched I saw a larger bee fly toward the entrance. I first thought it was a wasp due to her length but as soon as she landed I realized that it was the queen. She walked right in and many of the "bearding" and "fanning" bees followed her into the hive. Within a minute or two all the bees were gone from the entrance save a few coming and going doing the regular foraging activities.
I did a quick search of the forum hoping to find someone explaining this activity and I did find this post:
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,6921.0.html (http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php/topic,6921.0.html)
Sounds like the same kind of thing to me....
So the questions go:
Is this a normal activity for the bees when the queen is out on her mating flight?
Were they putting off the Nasonov pheromone to assist the queen in returning home?
Has anybody else seen this kind of thing?
If I were a betting man I would bet on Yes as the answer to the above questions but would love to hear your inputs.
Thanks!
V, I can't answer your question but I'd think so. I saw a virgin queen exit the hive twice in one day and walk around on the landing board.
That is so wonderful how they do that. Sounds like they are directing her back in.
Thats my bet as well.
GSF and Annette,
Thanks. Like everyone knows, or should, I have no idea what is going on or what I am doing and am playing by ear. Common sense tells me they were helping her find her way home... but like I said... no idea. Book learn'n only goes so far. This is why I like beemaster so much. Many people with differing levels of experience all working/learning together and sharing their opinions and ideas openly. Thanks all!
The answer is yes. Also if you had been there when she took off you may have seen what looks like a swarm from this hive. Sometimes the bees will come out in full force when the queen is leaving for her maiden flights. This is to protect her form the predators (dragonflies and blue birds) by overwhelming the area with bees making it harder for them to spot their favorite bee, the queen.
Jim
Jim,
Thanks. I would have loved to see that. (the start of her flight) There were a lot of bees coming back at about the same time she did. I guess those where her guards or shields. I was thinking at first that they were being robbed, just because of the unusually high amount of activity at the door. While looking I did not see any of the struggling bees I have seen in other robbing videos. Everyone was getting along.....
Was a fun experience.
Variable,
I had a swarm taking off and sat at the entrance and caught the queen just as she came out of the hive. I put her in a nuc and placed it near the hive entrance. I was expecting the swarm to move in. They refused to move in. I gave her a couple of frames of bees and let her go a few days later. 2 weeks later I found that the original hive was queenless. My fault. They were not swarming, it was her maiden flight. Live and learn.
Jim
Well you are one lucky beekeeper V. Hope I never get tired of sitting and watching bee come and go, one of the fun things about beekeeping.
dan
Dan,
The day that watching bees becomes boring will be the last day I am a beekeeper. However I do not see that happening. What a great hobby this is!! My kids and I watch the bees every day when I get home from work. It is a great time for us to sit and talk about our day, how we are doing and what our plans our for the days ahead. We even talk about the bees sometimes... It is becoming quite the routine. I love it when my wife will ask something about the bees and one of the kids jump in and tell her all about what the bees are doing (did). The last time this happened was a few weeks ago. We installed our two packages and both were building queen cells (supersede) after a week or so. I was worried they were thinking about swarming but we did nothing to the cells after looking for the queen(s) and not finding them. My wife asked how they are going to make a new queen if the old one is gone... my oldest daughter (age 7) suddenly pipes up and tells my wife how they are going to take and egg and build a queen cell around it and feed it "royal jello" and it will grow into a new queen. I was laughing so hard when she said "royal jello" that both her and my wife looked at me like I was nuts. My wife asked me "Is that true" and I stated that it is royal jelly and not jello but overall she is correct. Sometimes I wish I had a recorder going 24/7 just to catch these kinds of interactions.
Jim,
Mind if I ask how you went about fixing your queen-less hive after 2 weeks?
Thanks!
Quote from: Variable on May 22, 2014, 01:07:16 PM
Jim,
Mind if I ask how you went about fixing your queen-less hive after 2 weeks?
Thanks!
I joined them with a small queen right hive.
Jim
I once watched what seamed to be a jet propelled rocket erupt out of my first hive.
no swarm just a small ball of bees that shot out so fast I barley caught the action. I took that to be a virgin queen on a mating flight.
jay