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?
