Black Beauty!

[tbonekel]

I tried to find the thread about finding the queen in the picture because this might be a good one. She looks very drone like. I'm particularly excited about her because this little nuc has been queenless for some time (my fault). Anyway, they just made her and she is laying!

[GLOCK]

She is a Beauty!  I love dark queens.

[Jen]

So Exciting! I love all the queens... but for some reason when I see a beautiful black queen, I think Latifah! 

[LazyBkpr]

LOL @ Jen..
   I too am particularly fond of the dark queens...

   

[Jen]

Ooooooo, there's another beauty! Sooo.. mmm.. mystical I think it is. Sorta like black pearls, irridescent, deep in the swamp magic. I think I must have one someday, maybe next year.. yeeeeah 

[Perry]

A couple years ago I was all hyped over the nice dark queens. After 2 years of trying to find them, I have decided I really like the golden ones better.

[Jen]

Interesting you bring that up Perry, the two purchased queen I put in this late spring produced light caramel colored bees, so a black queen would really stand out.

[apisbees]

She is dark, some what like the queens from the black German bees that where in the feral hives along the railways.

[riverbee]

nice looking queen tbone!  keep us posted on how well she does!

[Gypsi]

She is 2nd bee from right edge around the middle? Very different. I had trouble spotting her because I always look for an attending circle. (if I have the wrong bee please HELP)

[Jen]

I would say, cut the picture in half from top to bottom. Queen Latifa is in the middle of the right side, another bee is standing right next to her.

[Gypsi]

I had the right bee, the whole image wasn't on my screen, when I downloaded and cropped down to right half there she was in the middle next to that other bee.  She is gorgeous.

[blueblood]

Nice looking queen! Thanks for sharing.

[apisbees]

I judge the looks of the queen by what she does. Frames of solid brood is what a nice looking queen looks like to me. I have seen some small queens with large amounts of solid brood. I have some modely colored mixed race mut queens that are not pretty to look at but I love the look of the brood. I have killed pretty looking queens due to poor performance.

[tecumseh]

a story from my past.... some 25 years ago I was working for a beekeeper in east Texas who had the contract to supply package bees for the Sears and Roebuck catalogue.  I ran with a rather dark complexed fellow by the name of Dennis who was perhaps 4 or 5 years younger than myself and we became real buds.... kind of the salt and pepper gang, if you know what I mean?  Now beyond pouring bees into small boxes the largest task in 'sharking bees' for package is to run them thru an excluder and then taking the time to spot the queen and returning her to the hive.  Dennis and I got real good at this primarily due to the fact that I was quite good at spotting those yellow queens (some folks who should know say I still am) and Dennis could spot a black queen from across the road.  In the package shaking world we were the deadly duo.  After that I took another road in life's highway and lost tract of Dennis.... I sometimes wonder how his life turned out.

[LazyBkpr]

Good story Tec!  Brings a lot of names through my thoughts. Good friends I have not seen in 30+ years, their names and faces still remembered, the stories we built still fresh.  Still friends in my mind, and still a smile on my face remembering some of the things we did.
   Good queens are not forgotten as they age, they just get new nuc's to build.

[Jen]

Tec- My life is filled with salt and pepper of all degrees. I wouldn't have it any other way. When your in the healing world such as I am you often run across healing info from all kinds of spices that is priceless and ancient.

Apis- "I judge the looks of the queen by what she does.

     Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ~ But often times Beauty is just what it is ~
 

[riverbee]

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder ~ But often times Beauty is just what it is ~"

and for me, disposing of a queen or sending her off to the promised land has never been 'easy', even though i know it's best. can still admire and appreciate the beauty and wonder of a queen and what the bees produced. 

awesome pic jen!

[Jen]

Thanks! one of my fav pics, she sitting on a sedam plant in my backyard, I love the glissen in her wings