Newley mated queen returns with many extra worker bees?

[Ben Framed]

I have read, and also been told that when a virgin queen mates, she will bring "home" many extra worker bees.🐝  Is that true? And if it is true, where does she find these new "subjects". Are they simply  foraging from other hives and smell her as she is on her way back home and follow along or some other answer or theory? Thanks Phillip Hall "Ben Framed"

[little john]

I've seen evidence of the virgin queen's entourage as she leaves on her 'maiden flight' on many occasions, and I've often observed large numbers of bees waiting - spread out widely apart across the hive's surface, fanning away - presumably helping to guide her home, but I've never seen the return entourage of which you speak. Not that it doesn't exist - but just that I've never looked for it, so have never seen this.

It's perfectly feasible of course, as scouts are known to set up station between source and a chosen destination during the process of swarming in order to help guide the swarm along the route - but from videos I've seen of drone 'comets' as they race across the sky in pursuit of a virgin queen, it would seem that picking-up such a string of waiting bees after a successful mating would be far more problematic, due to the large distances which the mating ritual can cover.  I have wondered whether a few scouts actually join-in with the 'drone comet' - but even then, although there have been many reports of queens falling from the sky following an incomplete 'break-away', never once have I read of anyone mentioning any bees hovering around such fallen queens.

Could it simply be that a number of scouts wait in the proximity of the apiary, but towards the general direction of the DCA (the location of the DCA being known beforehand of course) ?  Conjecture, sure - but it would certainly be in the interests of the colony to ensure (as far as possible) that the results of all their hard work come to a satisfactory conclusion.
LJ

[BeeMaster2]

It could also bee that there was a swarm in her path and she picked up a bunch of them and they followed her scent all the way to her hive.
Jim

[texanbelchers]

Or, it could be a usurping swarm with a completely different queen.  SHB can smell weak and/or distressed hives, maybe swarms can too.

I'm never there when they are on mating flights and haven't observed any of it.