Author Topic: Strange sighting. Not a UFO.  (Read 1301 times)

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Offline Bakersdozen

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Strange sighting. Not a UFO.
« on: May 29, 2020, 10:12:57 pm »
I saw something unusual today.  I was inspecting a colony that had requeened themselves.  Not surprised as the queen with that package of bees was struggling.  First frame had a queen cell that I assumed was uncapped.  I could see a big fat larvae inside.  It may have been destroyed now that I consider the circumstances.  The second frame had a queen cell that had hatched some time before.  Third frame I found the queen and she had a "string" hanging from her rear end.  I have heard that sometimes a queen returning from her mating flight may still have part of the drone attached to her.  Before I could get a picture it fell off, was covered by workers, and I never saw it again.  Darn! I looked closer and there were 3 day old eggs and larvae in the first instar stage.  So, she's been laying for at least 4 days.  When I first spotted her I thought it was a string of eggs attached to her.  Sometimes newly mated queens have a hard time reaching the bottom of the cell.  Now I don't know what I saw.
Here is a picture I took of her.  To the left, I think you can see eggs in the cells.  Does she look young?  Any thoughts?